RWBY: Beacon of Hope (being re-written)
by Spartan25798
Summary: There's a storm brewing on Remnant, and all it takes to become a hurricane, will be some honeyed words, explosions, and lots of Grimm. As for our Hunters in training, team RWBY and (OC) Team STRM will be caught right in the center of it all. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, but these hunters have no say, and if they want to live, they'll have to fight.
1. Red Like Roses

_**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, that honour goes to the late Monty Oum (R.I.P.) and all of Rooster teeth just in case it wasn't clear.**_

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Hey guys, its Spartan25798 here, this was my first fanfic that I ever wrote so don't judge it to harshly._

 _It has also occurred to me that my writing style back then, to be perfectly honest with myself, sucked. Because of this, I'm planning on giving Beacon of Hope a complete re-write before the sequel gets onto the net anymore than it has. It won't be like before either, where I changed up some dialogue, and made some scenes more "Readable"_

 _Am I ashamed of this story? Hell no... just the first half of it... that wasn't a good setup, and I wasn't experienced enough to know that. The second half of the story though, I quite like. That doesn't mean that it's not getting fully edited as well. If you'd like to read the story, go ahead and do so, I'm sure that once you get passed say... chapter 13, you'll like it... Probably._

 _If that's the case, follow, favorite, and hell, leave a comment. My favorite thing about writing stories like this is talking to the people that read it. But, if you don't want to read this one, go read my beta, rwbyfan5's story: Into the Glyph. It's about him, the writer, getting transported into an alternate dimension... The RWBY one to be precise. It's one of my all time favorite stories on this site._

 _You're still here, well, then that's enough ranting. Here's (the needs to be updated version) Beacon of Hope._

 _Enjoy_

* * *

 _ **Beacon of Hope**_

* * *

 **Red like Roses**

* * *

" _If ever you are lost in darkness, always look for the light in your heart, and you will find your way again._ "

These were the last words that Summer Rose had said to Ruby before she left for _that_ mission. Ruby always thought that the world was full of happiness everywhere, until that day her mom didn't come back from that fateful mission. That was almost two years ago and no matter how hard Ruby tried to forget, those words kept her mom in her memory. Although she missed her mom a lot, she was still the bright happy little girl that everyone knew her to be. Sometimes she just needed a moment to herself.

"I miss you so much, mom," Ruby said quietly. She jumped at the sudden sound of a knock on the door.

"Come on Ruby. We're going to go visit Summer after supper, so come down and eat." A voice from the other side said.

"Coming, Yang, just give me a minute." Ruby responded.

She cleaned herself up a bit before heading downstairs. As they all sat down, there was a knock at the front door.

"I wonder who that could be." Yang wondered out loud.

Her father went to open the door.

"Well, hello there, good sir." the man outside said.

Ruby practically shot up from the sound of the voice.

"Uncle Qrow!'' Ruby squealed running up to give him a big hug.

"What are you doing here I thought that you were on a mission near Atlas?" Taiyang asked. Qrow cleared his thought as Yang went up to hug him as well. He gave Taiyang a smirk.

"Come on Tai, you didn't notice? I'm not drunk for once." Qrow joked.

"Nah, you're lying, I know you when you're drunk."

"How many times do I have to tell you that there is a difference between drunk and tipsy.

"Too many times." Taiyang replied with a mild chuckle.

"Well now that we have reconvened." He said turning toward Yang and Ruby "Ruby, Yang I am very happy to see you two again, the old man hasn't been too hard on you now has he?" this earned a chuckle from Taiyang

"No" Ruby piped up" He has just been as good as gold!" She exclaimed.

"We were just about to have supper, would you like to join us?" Taiyang asked.

"Well I guess I could refuel the old gas can a bit." Qrow joked "Oh, that reminds me, Yang I have something that I need to tell you about later, possibly." this made Yang jump with happiness as she ran to give her uncle a giant hug."I will talk to you about it after supper ok." He said

"Sounds good." Yang said with a hint of defeat in her "Oh but we are going to visit Summer after supper, care to join us?" Yang asked

"Perfect idea, we will discuss it on our way there."

"Alright let's get seated and eat up." their father said.

"I hope you like chicken" Yang said pulling off the tinfoil allowing the aroma to fill the room

"Love it." Qrow replied happily

* * *

"You two go on ahead Yang and I need to discuss that little detail I was talking about." Qrow stated. Ruby and her dad both agreed and went on leaving them behind just a bit. "Now then about this lead. The man's name is Junior, not much is known about him although he isn't exactly the most open minded individual to say the least. He owns a dance club and his own private security force, the best time you could find out anything is at his party in the dance club a few nights from now." Qrow explained to the high alert blonde

"Will I need an invitation to this party or is it a social gathering" she asked with a trace of humour in her voice

"Fortunately it is just a gathering that anyone can attend that feels like it. Qrow explained. "And you can't kick the door in and demand to see him, before you ask you can just try to strike up a conversation, just try to be somewhat discreet about this matter."

"Well that was my first plan, but hey I'll give your idea a shot, could be fun." Yang teased

"Come on, let's catch up to your sister and dad, they should be almost there by now. Qrow said.

And with that they took off to go see Summer Rose.

* * *

 **Ruby sighed and kneeled down at the sight of the gravestone, on the stone read:**

" _Thus kindly, I scatter_ "

"Hi Mom, it's been awhile since we saw you last. Don't worry, Yang and Uncle Qrow are coming too." Ruby began before feeling a hand on the shoulder from her sister "Oh, never mind, I guess they're here already." she giggled softly.

"Hey Summer" Yang began "Ruby is fine by the way, she thinks about you a lot, although I guess I do too." Yang sighed and took a breath in the cold air. "We all miss you Summer Rose." she said as a tear began to form in her eye as she stood up. and her dad stepped forward.

"Hey honey, I'm trying but I just can't do it. Ruby goes through the cookies I make before there even out of the oven. I will never understand how you managed to keep up with her, but I will try. Have a good rest dear." her father finishes. giving Ruby a pat on the back

"Hey Summer." Qrow began as a tear fell down his cheek onto the slightly snowy ground. "I really miss the good old days where we would do," He looked back at small group behind him. He turned around again to face the gravestone and continue.

"A number of things at school that don't really need to be mentioned right now." He said earning a small laugh from Taiyang."

"Well no matter how bad things seem, they can't be any better, and they can't be any worse, because that's the way things are and we can't do anything about it. You told me this once, I didn't know what it meant until a while ago. But, since the good old days are over, and the only thing that we can do is keep moving forward. We all miss you Summer, but it's time for us to go now." He finished and turned again to walk up to the group.

"Ready to go?" He asked,

"Wait I want to sing something, a lullaby that she used to sing me when I was younger. I want to sing it in her memory." Ruby protested

"All right, go for it." her uncle said cracking a smile.

"Thanks." Ruby cleared her throat and close her eyes,

" _Red like roses fills my dreams and, brings me to the place you rest._

 _White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test._

 _Black the beast descends from shadows._

 _Yellow beauty burns, gold..._ "

She stayed kneeled by the stone with everyone smiling behind her. "I remember that she used to sing that to me every night." She said as a tear trickled down her eye

"Come on Ruby, let's go." Yang said in a comforting tone.

"You guys, uh, you go on ahead, I just want another minute" Ruby stated as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Ok, catch up soon though." her father said smiling leaving with her uncle and Yang.

Ruby stayed there for another minute or two, thinking of all the good times they had when she was younger.

"I love you," Ruby whispered as she got up slowly. Rose petals rolled across the ground as she said that. Ruby then got up, turned slowly, and started walking trying to stay strong as she walked away.

"Don't turn around Ruby." She told herself as she continued walking into the forest. Ruby was fast when she wanted to be but it was one of those times that she just wanted to take things slower. She continued walking through the forest when something caught her eye, but she simply dismissed it as a shadow. As she continued on, more things caught her attention but were too fast to visibly see. as she approached a clearing in the woods she heard a low, menacing growl. She looked up to see a pack of Beowolves looking at her with their burning red eyes.

"Why today of all days." she muttered irritably. Suddenly, three of the Beowolves rushed at her. "Fine, you guys want to play? Just come a little bit closer." she thought to herself. "And...now!" she leaped into the air dodging the three Beowolves' attacks. "Ok, time for some fun." she said under her breath and, quick as a flash, transformed her weapon, Crescent Rose, into its sniper form. She pulled the trigger leaving a large hole in one of the Beowolf's heads. She launched herself head on into the Beowolf pack with an abundance of rose petals to follow in her wake.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Okay okay, here's what I'd like all of you readers out there to do when reading the story. Before you judge anything, keep reading. I didn't really have a clear path when I started writhing this thing, so the earlier chapters pretty much mirror the things in the show. Trust me, you'll probably like it if you keep reading. If you see anything wrong with the story, write a review about it, and I'll look into it._

 _P.S. this is also one of the only normal Authors Notes in this story. After chapter 12, they start to get… a little out of hand. Thank you dear readers, and I'll see you in the next one._


	2. White is Cold

_**A.N./**_ _hey guys here is chapter two, I hope you guys are liking it so far but anyway, let's get into this, shall we._

* * *

 **White is Cold**

* * *

All Weiss could think about was the recital. Her father had rekindled her liking of music about a year ago, but this was the first time that she did this sort of thing in front of someone before. She was nervous, not because of stage fright but the fact that she had to impress people for her father.

"It's ok, Weiss, relax. You've been practicing this song day and night for months now." she told herself in the dressing room. "besides, I might catch the eye of some people and get to pursue singing."

She had always wanted to sing, but her father would want her to take on the job of running the Schnee Dust Company, a job she didn't want. There was only one thing that she wanted to do besides sing and that was to become a Huntress. Weiss's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Miss Schnee, are you ready yet?" a voice from the other side asked.

"O-oh, I, um," Weiss fumbled around with her words before giving herself an emotional slap "Yes Kate, I'm almost ready."

Kate was the Schnee's secretary, she would always find time to fit Weiss into a conversation, if she struck one up first.

"Ok, well it's almost show time, and I will be rooting for you." Kate replied from the other side of the door.

Weiss smiled and bowed her head

" _She is too damn nice_ " Weiss thought to herself " _Okay, Weiss, you can do this. Just be calm and don't look up at the audience, they will distract you._ " Weiss stood up and walked out of the room. "Okay, let's just get this over with." She said aloud stepping out onto the closed stage.

Weiss walked up to the stage, what was fear had turned into joy. She was ready and she knew it, however she couldn't stop thinking about the choice that her father had given her about schooling.

* * *

 **Years ago**

* * *

"Dad, why can't I just do what I want in life, sure I might get in trouble and risk my life as a huntress, but at least this is what I want to do!" Weiss yelled at her father. this argument had lasted for a good twenty minutes and neither side wanted to give up.

"You want to become a huntress just like your sister, and your mother? Fine. But you will do the tests that they went through, tomorrow." Her father was yelling at her.

This wasn't unusual because of his stressful position at work and the fear of an assassin, lurking in the shadows about to pounce. Weiss understood the hardships her father was going through, because she would most likely go through them one day when she would supposedly take over the family company. Weiss heard what her father had just said.

"Dad, what are you saying?" Weiss asked in a confused and concerned tone.

"I'm saying, that I will give you a chance." Weiss lit up at her father's words. "but you will go through a trial tomorrow and if you fail then you will have no say in the matter." Her father said sternly. " if you succeed, then I will fill out an application for you to attend one of the combat schools, preferably Atlas though." Weiss practically was jumping for joy.

"I won't let you down father, Myrtenaster and I will dominate whatever you throw at us." and with the remark Weiss turned and walked away bound for her room to get ready for the next day.

* * *

 **Present day**

* * *

Weiss couldn't stop thinking about that week a year ago. She would be going to an actual huntsman academy within the month and she couldn't wait. She had made the decision to go to Beacon instead of Atlas under extreme protest by her family. Although the concert at hand did keep her on edge. She wasn't the best at speaking, let alone singing, in front of an audience. She didn't notice the figure who was closing behind her.

"Weiss, how are you feeling?" her father asked, giving her a slight jump

"Oh, I'm fine father, I just want to say that I know we didn't always get along, but thank you for the opportunity to go to Beacon. The whole year I have been training non-stop and then some." her father put a hand on her shoulder.

"Weiss, I know we fight a lot, but I am proud of you. Not just for being accepted into Beacon, but for sticking up for what you believe in." Her father said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "This whole signing thing was just to distract you from your goal, and that was selfish of me, but you stuck to your dreams. I only wish I could have found the thing that drove me at your age." her father said shedding a tear.

"I won't let you down father." Weiss replied "I will sing this last time, just for you." she told him

"You never have let me down Weiss." he said taking his hand off her shoulder, turning to leave "Hey Weiss, good luck." He smiled and left to go take his seat in the audience. Weiss thought back to that test, she knew what drove her and she wouldn't stop here. The stage opened and the announcer's voice filled the air

"Ladies and gentlemen, Please welcome, Weiss Schnee." the music's melody started up and waited for the queue to sing, suddenly she heard it and began the song, Mirror, Mirror.

The lyrics she knew, the tempo she knew, the change of pace halfway through she knew. She knew the song so well, she basically called it hers. The music gave her the intro and she focused on her goal of singing the song.

* * *

 **Years ago**

* * *

"Ok, Weiss, you trained for this you can beat whatever father throws at you." she thought as she entered the arena. The arena was dark and Weiss couldn't see much, that was until a spotlight shot right on her making her jump a little. The light had half blinded her from the sudden shock of bright light. Another spotlight activated but this time not aimed at her, but at a giant metal knight being formed right out of thin air with a Schnee glyph underneath it. The knight got up from its knees and stood up taking out its long sword. Weiss took this as her queue to take out Myrtenaster.

The moment she unsheathed her multi-action dust rapier, the knight attacked with a downward swing that would have probably cut her in half had she not been paying attention. Weiss cart wheeled to the left and readied herself to counter attack, placing a glyph to bounce off of and she sent herself flying at the knight. Landing her strike and flipping mid air. the knight tried the same attack again so Weiss placed another glyph at her feet sending her behind the knight. before the knight could counter, Weiss lunged at the knights legs and shot herself upward into a spiral attack sending the knight stepping backwards, she landed on her feet and attacked the Knight's legs landing as many strikes as she could. As Weiss finished her onslaught of her attack she saw that the knight was in mid swing, so she braced herself for the attack. The knight landed its hit sending Weiss sliding backwards. Before Weiss could recover, The Knight was in the air and attacking on a downswing again.

Weiss dodged the incoming attack by doing another cartwheel to the right this time. The knight apparently anticipated this and swung his sword directly at her in a sweeping motion. Weiss back flipped out of the way just in time to dodge the attack. The knight then took his chance at another attack and swung his sword, directly at Weiss, and a clash of metal could be heard. The impact caused Weiss to go sliding backward and she lost her balance, falling over but used the momentum to flip onto her feet.

Weiss cast a glyph at her feet and set herself flying at the knight again. The knight saw the low attack and used his sword to try to block Weiss. Weiss was swift and agile though and rolled past the sword. Casting another glyph Weiss bounced off of it and dove at the knights head. While in mid air Weiss cast a glyph to redirect herself at the knights feet. Moving faster than the knight could turn, she continued to land strikes at its legs, trying to find a weak point.

Weiss saw that the knight was almost ready to attack again. She cast a glyph at her feet and sprang upwards hitting the knight in the head. The knight stepped back, stunned at Weiss's attack. Using the room from the knight, while in mid air, Weiss made a glyph at her feet and sent her in a slow spiral attack at the Knights head.

The knight was obviously unhappy, he took his sword and swung at Weiss's feet. Weiss countered by casting another glyph and she jumped over the knight's sword. The knight, using his one free hand off his sword swung his fist at the mid-air Weiss. Weiss didn't expect the attack and was sent flying backward landing on her face.

Weiss stumbled as she tried to get up. The punch had used so much force that the skin by her left eye had split and was now bleeding. Weiss eventually got back up on her feet and readied herself in her combat stance.

" _Shit, my eye._ " Weiss thought as she got up. Weiss looked up at the knight with rage draped across her face. "Alright, _my_ turn to do some damage." Weiss hadn't used the dust in Myrtenaster. She decided enough was enough and infused some of the fire dust that she had, into her rapier. The knight, seeing that she was fine, took her loading of dust as a waiting sign, so he sprinted at her in a rage. Weiss realising what was going on lifted Myrtenaster in the air and used the now dust infused rapier to block the incoming attack. The attack was deflected by the rapier causing the knight's sword to bounce off and catching the knight off guard. Weiss loaded Myrtenaster with Ice dust and stabbed it at the ground. The dust caused an ice effect out of the ground and sent directly at the knight. The dust did its job and froze the knight in place. Seeing as he couldn't move he swung his sword at her hoping to land the attack.

Weiss jumped up, and onto the knights blade, at the same time she loaded electric dust into Myrtenaster. Rolling forward Weiss used the blade to jump at the knight with the rapier, and attacking his arm. The unsuspecting knight, now free of the blue dust's ice effect, began to charge at Weiss but realised that he didn't have his sword. With the knights sword on the ground behind her Weiss leapt into the air to attack the unarmed knight. landing multiple attacks, Weiss loaded Myrtenaster with the white energy dust. After that she formed a glyph under the knight, and sent him flying into the air. While it was in the air, Weiss cast some smaller glyphs at the airborne knight locking it in place. Weiss cast a glyph at her feet jumping into the air above the mid-air knight. she cast one last glyph behind her and sprang off of it. Myrtenaster's blade pierced the knights armour causing it to fall to the ground and shatter and disappear into thin air.

* * *

 **Present day**

* * *

Weiss ended her musical performance, everyone loved her. Weiss felt honoured as she did a curtsey and the stage blinds closed. She felt relieved that the concert was over. She looked around for the exit and saw it to the right of her. She walked off the stage floor and left to go find her father.

"Well now that that's over and done with, let's see if father will let me go to Beacon." she thought to herself. she had only one thing on her mind now, and that was becoming a huntress, and she couldn't wait. Although her true intentions for going to Beacon were to uphold her family's honour. She didn't mention that minor detail to them though.


	3. Black the Beast Descends From Shadows

_**A.N.:**_ _Another chapter back and better than ever_

* * *

 **Black the beast descends from shadows**

* * *

Blake was sitting on a rock in the Forest of Forever Fall. She had been thinking about the mission that she and her partner, Adam Taurus. The two of them had been going on missions together since their ld leader stepped down. They were great at what they did and were praised by many Faunus in the White Fang. They had been tasked to infiltrate and hijack a cargo train being shipped from the kingdom of Mantle to Vale. Blake was still sitting, going over their plan in her head, trying to mentally prepare herself for what was to come. Her thoughts kept coming back to deciding if any of the things they did or would do, were right. She heard someone come up behind her, she already knew who it was so didn't bother to look.

"Blake, it's time." Adam said behind her.

She turned to look at him and simply looked at bowed her head and replied with a simple "Okay."

Blake got up off the slightly damp, mossy rock and they took off toward their destination. Blake and Adam had been camped in the forest for a while now, waiting for the train car. They started running as to not miss their window and waited at the top of the cliff. The train could be heard. They spotted the train and began sliding down the cliff side. The cliff suddenly flattened out downward towards the ground below. using this momentum the two jumped off, unsheathing their weapons and cutting into a train car's roof to bring themselves to a halt. The impact was mostly absorbed by their aura. After landing, the pair found the nearest hatch leading into the train car. The padlock guarding the door was easily destroyed by Adam, in one swift motion from Wilt.

Blake held the door open while Adam hoped inside. Once he was in Blake hopped in after him.

"Looks like we are going to be doing this the hard way." Adam announced as Blake began to stand up from her fall.

"Don't be so dramatic." She teased and smiled at him. This wasn't their first rodeo, they were some of the best combatants that the White Fang had, and they wouldn't go down without a fight. Blake took a look around and saw that they were surrounded by the Atlesian knight. These were combat designed robots that stood as a big part of the Atlas military. Blake soon realised that whoever wanted this shipment would stop at nothing to protect it.

"Intruder, identify yourself." One of the knights said.

Adam simply stood up and walked up to the robot. With the knights guns still aimed at Adam and Blake, Adam shot his sword out of its holster knocking back the knight who spoke, stunning him. Before the knight could recover from the stun attack, Adam caught his sword, mid-air, running up to the knight, decapitating it, and splitting it in two. Adams attacks were swift, and almost impossible to see coming. The other twelve knights in the room took the sign of hostility, and attacked the pair.

Blake waited for the robots to get close to attack, The first four knights made the mistake of attacking Blake with melee attacks. As soon as a knight would lunge at her, Blake cast a shadow double, jumping off of it and destroying two of the robots in one swing. Jumping back to help Adam, the two fought the incoming melee knights and defeated them while covering each other's back. As the knights attacks were obviously failing, the remaining robots decided to attack with ranged combat. Seeing this, Adam deflected as many incoming shots as possible. Blake was running at the knights, deflecting shots with her katana until she was within striking distance. Blake jumped at a shooting knight, swinging Gambol Shroud at its head, taking it clean off before moving on to the next robot behind it ; cutting it from the shoulder down to its abdomen. After that Blake took the next robot's legs out then flip-kicked the next. Recovering quickly, Blake lunged at another destroying it with Gambol Shroud. Seeing her next target, Blake cast a shadow double and leaped off of it to take the next knight out swiftly.

The remaining knights were cut down to size faster than you could blink. Adam had kicked an Atlesian knight through one of the train car walls, creating a hole that they could go through to the next car. With more knights on the roofless train car. Blake and Adam both lunged at the knights with all their might, Making short work out of what was left on the train. Entering the next train car was easy as all the robotic forces appeared to be neutralized.

Adam began to start looking through the containers. He opened a crate and motioned for Blake to come see the contents.

"Perfect." he stated "Move up to the next car, I'll set the charges."

"What about the crew members?" Blake asked, clearly concerned.

"What about them?" Adam smirked.

At this moment they hadn't bothered to look behind them to see the threat in the shadows. That was until a loud thud could be heard behind them. Adam and Blake turned to see a large, four-legged, Spider Droid, charging its weapons.

"Adam!" Blake whined as the spider droid took aim at the pair and fired.

They didn't need each other to tell them when to get out of the way, and they did, fast. Blake, avoiding all the shots fired, charged at the large Spider Droid, only to be knocked down in mid-air by the robot. Seeing that Blake was in trouble Adam charged at the mechanical monster in a whirlwind, to give Blake a chance to recover from the hit. Getting kicked out of the way by the droid, Adam saw his partner was still in danger, and used all of his speed to run and get Blake out of the way.

"We need to get out of here." Blake stated.

Blake looked up to see the Droid firing its main cannon. Bracing themselves for the impact and also trying to lure the Droid outside. Seeing as the bait worked, Adam ordered Blake to buy him time to charge an attack. Blake made sure that the Spider droid's attention was focused solely on her. She charged the droid, dodging its shots as they came at her. Once Blake was close enough to the Droid, Blake turned Gambol Shroud into its pistol form. With the ribbon attached to the pistol, Blake stuck what was the bladed part of the pistol in the droid's arm. Jumping off a shadow double. she pulled the pistol out while she was air-borne. Landing behind the droid, Blake attacked its rear before it could figure out what was going on. To keep the Droid even more confused, Blake cast shadow doubles and leaped everywhere around the droid, landing strikes as she moved. Running out of ideas Blake jumped at the head of the Droid, sticking the blade of Gambol Shroud's pistol in its head, and unloading whatever rounds were left in the magazine. Blake jumped back off the droid and did a handspring all the way back to where Adam was.

"Move!" he shouted, not wanting Blake to get hurt from the attack.

So Blake ran all the way to the next train car, turning around to see Adam take the blast from a fully charged shot. Adam simply stood there. Seeing that the plan had worked, the unsuspecting Spider droid leapt at Adam hoping to crush him, only to be evaporated by its own power. Blake was tired of this, she didn't want to rob more shops, she didn't want to risk her life for her organization, but most of all, Blake didn't want the innocent to get hurt or killed because of her.

Seeing Adam running to catch up with her, She took out Gambol Shroud.

"Goodbye." She said, swinging the weapon at the train cars joint, decoupling it.

Blake felt a tear roll down her face, not because she was saying goodbye, but because her best friend, that she had almost entirely grown up with in the Fang, had just turned into a monster on front of her very eyes.

The train kept going leaving Adam on the now stopped train cars. Blake could hear footsteps behind her. Knowing the footstep patterns of the military, she did the one thing she was taught never to do. Blake threw her hands up in the air, dropping Gambol Shroud, not turning around she braced herself for the impact of the gun stock . When it hit all Blake could see or feel was the darkness around her.

* * *

Blake awoke in a small dark room with one light overhead shining down on her. Blake shook her head, trying to remember what had just happened. Slowly it all came back to her. The train, the knights, the Spider Droid, Adam. Blake realised that she had just lost her best, if not only friend. The room became more clear now. She was in a small room with a table and chair in front of her. Suddenly the door on the other side of the room opened, and two men walked inside. With her instincts kicking in she reached for Gambol Shroud, only to find that it wasn't there.

"You won't be needing your weapon little faunus girl." One of the men said in a low tone of voice.

"Where am I?" Blake asked "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

"Don't play dumb girl, we know that your little organization has been robbing stores and dust shipments for months now." The other man said. with the darkness, she couldn't make out the men's faces, but could easily tell from their reactions that they were cops.

"Look, my job was to go onto the train, and hijack the goods on it." Blake said "But, the only reason I am here is so that the crew of the train could survive. If it weren't for me, those innocent lives would have been lost." Blake shot back

"That still doesn't change the fact that you- oh hang on a sec." the officer paused to take the message. "Sir. are you sure you want to send him in? I mean," another pause "of course sir." the man finished the conversation with whoever was on the other side. "Well girl, looks like it's your lucky day, wait here, someone wants to talk to you." and with that the two men left the room, leaving Blake alone to her thoughts.

About a minute passed before the door opened again and another man stepped into the room.

"Ms. Belladonna, a pleasure to meet you." the man said as he sat down.

Blake could see this man because of the light and her pounding headache wearing off. This man had white hair, and brown eyes. He was wearing a dark green suit with a green scarf.

Blake simply sat in silence, unsure on how to respond. She quickly observed the man head to toe.

"My name is Ozpin." the man said. "I am the headmaster at one of the world's best combat schools." he paused taking a sip of coffee from his mug. "Now then, I have a proposition for you." This peaked Blake's interest causing her cat ears to shoot upward. "Ah I see you are interested, now then, I shall cut to the chase, the battle that occurred on that train was being monitored. You have the combat prowess of a true huntress in you, based on the video footage. But that is not the case, I am here to give you a chance at civilian life."

"H-how would y-you do that?" Blake asked "I mean, I am a criminal who has taken lives, robbed countle-." Blake was cut off by Ozpin at that moment.

"Blake, I know why you are here, you risked your free life, to save the crew of that train." Ozpin said, then took another sip of coffee. "To me, I'm pretty sure that this repays any bad deed that you have committed. That shows what a true huntress would do. Give their life to save many." He finished awaiting her response.

"Ok, well what do I have to do." Blake asked him

"Well, I will allow you into my combat school at the start of the next semester a week from now." Ozpin said "Unfortunately, you would have to remain in prison until then as we cannot find any family members living in Vale. But after that I can promise you a spot in the academy, as long as you don't go back to your old ways." Blake was dumbfounded, she had been captured by the police, taken in for questioning, and been given a spot at one of the best combat schools on the planet."

"Professor Ozpin, I don't know what to say." Blake spoke up "I accept the terms, and I am anxious to start week from now." She gave a rare smile to the man. She knew deep down that when this happened, she would never be able to repay him.

"Alright Blake, I will see you at the start of the next semester." Ozpin said as he got up and left the room. Blake lay back in the chair she was sitting in, and waited for the guards to move her to her new cell she would live in for a week.

"Could be worse." Blake thought to herself as the guards entered the room to take her away. They brought her into a small cell where she walked over to the bed and sat down. The glass behind her closed and turned into a stone looking wall. Blake gave a sigh and for once in her life, she felt safe. Blake smiled and started waiting for the week to be over.

* * *

 _A.N. Now that these previous chapters have been updated, the story can go in a more direct route. Happy RWBY_


	4. Yellow Beauty Burns, Gold

_**A.N.:**_ _To many of them, all trying to escape at once._

* * *

 **Yellow beauty burns gold**

* * *

As Yang, Qrow, and her father were walking back home in the forest, a sudden howl caught everybody's attention.

"Uh, did you guys hear that." Yang asked, her curiosity was peaked.

"Hmm, sounded like a Beowolf think it came from behind us. If we keep moving I think we can slip past them. Her uncle decided.

"Wait." Yang stopped and turned around. "Where's Ruby?" remembering that she stayed at the grave site longer than them, Yang put two and two together, and soon realised that Ruby was still behind them, with the Beowolves.

"Oh no." Yang thought as she took off running back to look for Ruby

Yang ran as hard as she could letting the sounds of gunshots and howls lead her back to Ruby. When she arrived at the clearing, Yang saw Ruby take a hit from a Beowolf and go sliding backwards. Ruby looked fine, the hit only mad Ruby mad. Ruby took her extra magazine out of her pouch on her lower back, and reloaded Crescent Rose. What Yang saw next surprised her. Ruby sent herself flying at the pack of about 25 Beowolf's. Ruby attacked with such speed and precision, that it was almost impossible to see what she was doing. From Yang's perspective there was a tornado of scythe swings and rose petals, leaving anything that got to close in tiny bits. The 25 were cut down to none in a matter of seconds. Ruby landed after her whirlwind attack into her favourite pose with her scythe.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted with happiness. "Oh, thank god you're okay."

"Aw, come on sis." Ruby started "You have to admit, that was pretty cool." Yang smiled at her sister.

"Well come on Ruby, let's go home." Yang said

* * *

Back at the house, Ruby was already in bed, and Yang was wondering how to spend her next day. The social gathering that her uncle suggested going to for the tip, was tomorrow. All Yang thought she had to do was convince her dad to let her go to Vale. So deciding to ask in the morning, Yang closed her eyes, and waited for sleep to draw her under its spell.

* * *

 **Next day**

* * *

Yang woke up feeling rested and ready for whatever the world could throw her way. Yang got up out of bed and got dressed as quickly as she could. Yang opened the door to her room leading into a small hallway. She followed that hallway to the living and dining area of the house. Yang noticed her father was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper.

"Good morning dad, how are you today?" Yang asked hoping to get the man's attention.

"Well, I am just fine and I think tha- wait a minute. Why are you up so early Yang, it's not like you to be an early bird." Her father asked with a smirk slowly growing on his face.

"Well, um, you see, it's like this. I was wondering if I could go into Vale for today, I have something I need to, um, check up on." Yang asked, doing her best to keep her cool.

"Hmm, I don't know Yang, I have to get ready to go to Atlas tomorrow for a conference, so I will be busy almost the entire day packing. With this put into effect, there would be nobody to look after Ruby." Her father said.

"Good morning family." The hyper-active voice said from behind them. "What are you guys doing." Ruby asked excitedly.

"Oh, hey sis, I was just asking dad if I could go into Vale today." Yang replied. It was almost impossible for Yang to keep a straight face when seeing the morning Ruby. No matter how long the girl slept for, Ruby would almost always wake up at 7:30, every morning and be in her most hyper form.

"Oh, could I come, I really need to restock on some dust rounds for Crescent Rose!" Ruby declared. "I won't get in the way, I promise. Pretty please."

"Okay, okay, okay, You guys can go to Vale. Yang, Ruby is your responsibility, take care of her." their father told the both of them.

"Yeah, I get to go to Vale!" Ruby squealed excitedly.

"Ok, sounds good." Yang said "We will head out after lunch."

"Ooohh, what time is it now, I'm so excited!" Ruby squealed again.

"It's still only 7:45, don't worry, we will be leaving in a few hours." Yang told her sister. Ruby took off to her room and then Yang sat down beside her father.

"So, why do you want to go into Vale all of a sudden." her father asked

"Well, it's like this, this guy I need to speak to might have a lead on." Yang paused for a minute

"A lead on who, Yang?" her father asked

"My mom, Uncle Qrow thinks that this guy might have a lead on my M-mom." Yang stuttered that last bit. Yang's father simply didn't speak. This was the first time in a long time that Yang saw a tear roll down her father's face. After about a minute or two of silence, her dad finally spoke up

Yang, I wish I could tell you why she left us, I really doubt I want answers as much as you do. So when you find this guy, if he knows anything, please, tell me what he knows when you get back home. She was my teammate too after all"

"I won't let you down." Yang said as she got up and left the room.

* * *

 **12:00 the same day**

* * *

"Oooohh are we there yet Yang? I'm so excited!" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Don't worry Ruby, we will be there in about a minute. Besides, we've only been in the air for about, what ten minutes." Yang replied sarcastically. Ruby had been so anxious to go the entire day. Ruby had wanted to go to Vale for the entire day. She literally wouldn't shut up about it.

"I know, Yang, but how often do we go into the kingdom for the entire day?" Ruby asked

"Good point." Yang agreed. "Hey look there is the air station!" She exclaimed as Ruby hoped up next to her.

The view they had over the city was breathtaking. The ship came to a stop at the air station and all the passengers got off the air ship.

"Yang, what are we going to do first." Her sister asked impatiently.

"Well, the guy I am meeting, the party he is at doesn't start until about eight and I was originally going to go see if the stores here have any of the Casey Lee Williams C.D.s left." Yang replied. She really wanted to get her hands on one because most of the music stores were sold out. She couldn't help it, the girl was a master with words.

"Oh, I like her music." Ruby beamed excitedly.

"Well if they have a C.D. there, we could listen to it together sometime." Yang decided.

"Yes, great idea sis!" Ruby exclaimed. the pair walked for a long while until they found a music store. The pair into the building and began their search for the Casey Lee Williams C.D.

"Yang, I found one." Ruby said over the shelf where she was standing.

"Sweet I will be right over." Yang replied and took off to the next aisle.

"Wow, Yang you weren't kidding, there is only one C.D. left." Ruby told her.

"Come on, let's go buy this and let's go." Yang told her sister. The two walked up to the counter and the faunus lady who stood behind it

"Hello." The lady said to them "My name is Lilac. How may I help you today."

"We would just like to buy this C.D." Yang said to her while Ruby smiled shyly behind Yang.

"Alright, that will be twenty Lien, please." Lilac said. Yang paid the lady, grabbed the C.D. and turned to leave.

"Come on Ruby, let's go." Yang said as she walked outside with her sister. "it's about two thirty now. What would you like to do."

"I don't know, hmm, isn't that art show on in Vale today?" Ruby asked

"I think so, well that's something we can do to kill time at least." Yang replied and the two of them took off down the street to the art festival.

* * *

 **The art festival, 6:30 p.m.**

* * *

"Ruby, we need to go, it's six thirty. That party starts at seven." Yang told her sister.

"Ok Yang, I'm right behind you." Ruby replied sadly.

Ruby had liked seeing all the art at the festival. The pair walked down the street a few blocks until they saw the building they were headed too. They walked up to the bouncer up front but he stopped them.

"Sorry miss, no minors today." He told Ruby "You may go in if you wish." He gestured to Yang

"Hmm, well Ruby if you go get the items for Crescent Rose at the store down there, I will meet up with you later." Yang told her

"Ok, fine, I will wait for you there." Ruby replied as she took off down the street.

Yang walked into the club happily and took a look around for her target. She spotted him over at the bar table and went off to go talk to him. She looked at the other man who was talking to him. The man was wearing a white coat, gloves and a black hat. The man turned away and walked away. Seeing her opportunity, Yang went over to talk to the man known as Junior. Standing beside him now, Yang took a look at the drinks listed and decided to buy one.

"Strawberry sunrise, no ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas." She told the bartender.

"Aren't you a little bit young to be in this club, Blondie?" Junior asked her. Yang chuckled slightly and fired back

"Aren't you a little bit old to have a name like Junior?" She taunted back jokingly

"So, you know who I am. You got a name, sweetheart?" He asked.

Yang slightly chuckled again.

"Yes, I've got several. But, instead of sweetheart, you can just call me Sir!" she growled the last word as she grabbed his crotch and squeezed, causing him to squeal quietly. "People say you know everything." She said to him bringing out her scroll. "Tell me where I can find her and I'll let you go."

"I've never seen her before, I swear." He whined in pain.

"Excuse me." She said tightening her grip.

"I swear, Sir." Junior said as his face went red. This was when Yang noticed the group of men coming up the stairs beside them.

"Hmm, looks like we have an audience, this must be kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward." Yang taunted

"Listen, Blondie, sir, if you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest that you let me go, _now_." He said, still in a lot of pain.

Yang saw that she was making no progress and let him go. Junior sighed with relief and started to walk away.

"You'll pay for that." Junior said as he put on his shades. Yang saw how this was going to end and decided that she would 'hit this party off' and continued to follow Junior

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you. Don't be so sensitive." Yang said "Come on, let's kiss and makeup, ok?" This caught Juniors attention.

Yang coyly giggled, as she leaned in to 'kiss him' She waited until she could feel his breath and then, Bang. Yang punched Junior, sending him flying across the room. The panicking crowd quickly left the club in a frenzy. Yang saw that there was going to be a one vs. all fight between her and the goons. Yang readied Ember Celica, and leaped into the air to catch the goons off guard. Yang let a shot out to send her flying into the ground, creating a shockwave knocking everyone off their feet.

Yang got up from her attack and ran at of the goons trying to get up. Doing a front flip she Axe kicked the goon, knocking him out instantly. She heard another goon behind her and shot Ember Celica, using the momentum from the shot, Yang ploughed her elbow into the goon behind her. She was airborne and she kicked the goon in front of her in the head, mid-flight. Seeing as all the goons were back on their feet Yang charged into them. She ducked under a goons attack and swept his legs out from under him. While he was in the air, yang shot Ember Celica and he flew straight into the ground. Still moving, Yang basically used a goon as a wall, and ran up him. On her decent, Yang threw a punch at the next goon standing in front of her, sending him into the goon behind him. As he was stunned Yang punched his gut and then upper-cut him, sending him flying into the air.

Two more goons were running at Yang from the back. Yang shot Ember Cecilia, and flew into the two of them taking them both out quickly and easily. From behind Yang, a goon swung his sword, but Yang blocked the simple attack with her gauntlets. While her hand was still in the air from the block, she sent a quick stun- punch. After that she sent a mad barrage of punches and dust rounds at the unsuspecting goon.

There was another goon on the balcony by the sound system wearing what appeared to be a model of a teddy Ursa. Seeing as he just pulled out a Tommy gun and was now firing, Yang ran at the bear headed man dodging all his bullets. launching herself at the man, she opened the sound system case and sent the disc out of the machine. Yang was focused on the poor D.J. She picked him up and threw him off the balcony. Pulling out the Casey Lee Williams disc, she popped it in the system, and set the playlist to random. There were two girls standing in the middle of the dance floor. one was wearing a white dress, and the other was wearing a red one. The two looked similar, so Yang made the assumption that the two were twins. Yang reloaded Ember Cecilia, and hopped off the stage to go find Junior. As soon as she jumped off the balcony, the two twins charged at Yang. Seeing this as a threat, Yang started firing round at the two girls. Yang was going to be overrun in seconds, but Yang kept firing until the white girl was at point blank range. She fired one last shot at her, hoping it had made contact, but the girl in the white dress was simply standing there from blocking the shot.

The other twin had come up behind Yang and tried to make a swing at Yang to take her by surprise. Yang blocked the attack and sent a shot at the red girl. She was fast, She jumped over Yang's shot and disappeared from Yang's view. Before Yang could react, the white twin, kicked yang and sent her sliding across the floor. In Yang's rage, she let out some shots from Ember Celica, only to have them missed or blocked by the girl. The twins were side by side, with the red twin rushing at Yang. Yang prepared for the attacks that the girl sent at her. She blocked an uppercut by the girls swords, but was caught off guard by the white girls attack. The girl kept going at Yang with her kicks, only to have them miss or stopped by the blonde.

The twins were practically surrounding Yang with high sword attacks and kicks in every direction. Yang couldn't block all the attacks from the pair and was sent flying backwards. trying to regain her balance, Yang quickly shook off the attack and sent herself flying at white twin, knocking her backwards. Now in a one on one fight Yang blocked all the attacks from the other twin and managed to land a stun punch on her head. in a barrage of attacks, Yang sent the girl flying through one of the glass pillars on the other side of the room.

The other twin was now recovered from Yang's last attack. Yang sent herself at the white twin as to not give her any breathing room. The two girls sent attacks at each other only to have them blocked by the other. The twin eventually landed a kick that made Yang slide backwards. Yang began to back step from the attacking twin, she waited for the right time to strike. Yang saw her opportunity and twirled out of the way of an axe kick. Elbowing the twin in the gut, Yang took the girl's arm and spun her around. Just as she predicted, the twin had no idea what was going on, Yang finished the fight by letting her go, off balancing the twin, and close lined her with her foot.

"Finally, now where's Junior." Yang thought to herself taking a look around the room. She heard someone behind her and spun around to see Junior holding his rocket launcher.

"You're going to pay for this." He said to Yang firing a barrage of rockets at her. Yang rolled backwards to avoid the shots and looked up to see another barrage heading her way. Yang fired Ember Celica at the incoming rockets destroying them with just a few shots. From the smoke Junior flew at Yang, taking her by surprise. Yang was able to block the first two attacks, but was stunned by the third. Yang looked up to meet Juniors weapon slamming into her abdomen. The attack sent her flying into a nearby glass table

"Fuck, that hurt." She said under her breath.

Slowly getting up, Yang let her semblance grow. Yang pounded her fists together to indicate she was still ready to fight. Junior sent another barrage at Yang. Yang sidestepped the attack and ran up to Junior. With the semblance powering her, Yang used the agility that came with it to dodge the two melee attacks he sent at her. One attack landed catching her off guard and another attack sent her flying backwards.

Yang felt a slight pain on her head and looked up at Junior who was holding her hair triumphantly. This really pissed her off.

"No one touches my fucking hair!" Yang yelled, striking fear into the man.

Now it was her turn, She sent a hail fire of punches at the now terrified man. She leaned back and punched with all her might sending Junior flying out of the club.

Yang ran back up to the balcony to retrieve the disc that was playing the song 'I Burn.' She picked up the disc and headed outside to see a knocked out Junior laying on the ground. Yang rolled her eyes seeing how she wasn't going to get anything else out of the unconscious man lying before her

"I guess it's time to go get Ruby." Yang thought to herself as she ran down the street to the dust store Ruby was waiting at. As she approached the dust store she had noticed something. There were three men lying on the ground, and police in the area. She walked up to one of the officers who was already on scene

"Hey, was there a little girl with a red hood and cape here when you guys showed up?" Yang asked

"No, sorry. You could try one of-" he said before getting cut off

"Ruby!" Yang called out now very concerned about her sister's safety. "I hope she is ok." Yang thought to herself and ran to the closest police station to try to find out if anyone had seen Ruby. Yang ran as if the world was going to end, she just couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to her baby sister.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _No they broke free!_

 _Weiss: Yeah we did, now keep writing_

 _Ruby: Yeah you keep progressing the story_

 _Blake: Okay, umm yes_

 _Yang: WHERE IS RUBY YOU FUCK_

 _Me: This is going to be a long winter….._


	5. Scythes, Masks, and Chases at Night

**A.N.:** _updates will probably be a bit slower seeing how I don't have my notes for the story anymore. I just ask for a bit of constructive feedback if possible. I will work off of my memory to the best of my ability but until I actually write this stuff down, it's going to be a longer thought process, leaving bigger time gaps in between chapters. Please be patient. Also I might add some OCs sometime in the story, so stay posted. Anyway onto the chapter._

 **Scythes, Masks, and Chases.**

Ruby was running down the streets of Vale to try to get to the dust store Yang had mentioned. She turned the corner and saw it. Ruby slowed down a little bit, she didn't want everyone in the store to see her as a crazy little girl. Ruby walked into the store casually, she took a quick look around but decided it would be faster to ask for help. Ruby walked up to the man at the counter and smiled.

"Excuse me, um would you happen to sell rounds for a, High Calibre Sniper Scythe, would you." Ruby asked the man shyly. The man simply nodded and pointed to the third row of ammunition. "Thanks." Ruby said and walked over to see if she could find them. She found about two magazines worth of the rounds and went up to the counter to pay for them. She pulled out the amount of lein required to make the purchase. She thanked the man and turned to go read some of the magazines she had seen earlier. Ruby picked up the weapons magazine and put her headphones on, she then continued to wait for Yang by reading to pass the time.

Ruby felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Assuming it was Yang she turned around to see a man in dark black pointing to his ears indicating that he wanted her to take her headphones off. She did so and asked him what he was doing with a simple "Yes." The man looked angry.

"I said put your hands in the air, now." Ruby was confused

"Are you robbing me?" she asked in her good girl tone of voice.

"Yes!" The man growled. Ruby smiled devilishly.

"Ooohh." She said mockingly. Ruby jumped up into the air and kicked the man across the store. This action obviously caught the attention of another man dressed in the same outfit. The man ran up to Ruby, and pointed his gun at her yelling the word "freeze." Ruby took a step back, and then launched herself at the man. The two went through the window of the shop. Ruby landed safely and unravelled Crescent Rose, pointing it at the thugs.

"Ok." the man in white said, he stood out from the other thugs as he was wearing white and they were all wearing black. "Get her." he said, gesturing his thugs to attack her. The three men ran out of the store with their weapons drawn, running at top speed straight for Ruby. She put her headphones in her back pocket, jumped up to dodge a swing from one of the thugs swords. Using Crescent Rose as a platform, Ruby twirled around it in a circular motion. HT e thug that had attacked her was now sent into the air. Sending him into the shop, the man was out clod from the impact of Ruby's foot meeting his face. Ruby took Crescent Rose out of the air and held it behind her back. The other thugs ran at Ruby from behind. Ruby could easily hear the footsteps behind her, She shot Crescent Rose, sending her into a spiral of red and rose petals, knocking the next thug straight into the air. On his way back down Ruby swung her scythe at him, flooring him, the man was out of the fight in an instant.

The last thug decided not to attack her with melee combat. He pulled out his assault rifle and started shooting. Ruby using shots from Crescent Rose and her speed semblance, avoided all the shots fired and charged at the man while he was reloading. She tripped him with so much force that he was sent into the air. She took the opportunity and jumped into the air after him. She sent the poor thug back down to the ground with the blunt side of her scythe, the man was now out cold completely.

With the thugs dealt with, Ruby pointed her scythe at the man who was simply smoking his cigar. The man looked down at the thug and mumbled something about him. He looked up at Ruby and stepped forward.

"Well, Red, I think we can agree that it has been a very eventful evening." The man said to her throwing his cigar to the ground and putting it out with his cane. "But I am afraid that this, is where we part ways." He said pulling up his cane. Ruby didn't think anything of it at first, until the bottom came open revealing a scope. Ruby reacted quickly by shooting the ground, sending her into the air.

When Ruby landed, the man had disappeared. She checked her surrounding to look for him. She spotted the man climbing a ladder up to a rooftop. Ruby looked back to see if the store clerk was alright.

"Are you ok if I go after him?" Ruby asked, not wanting the now fleeing criminal to get away. The man simply nodded, and Ruby took off after him. Seeing as the man was already up the ladder, climbing would take too long. Naturally Ruby took the fast option and shot Crescent Rose at the ground. The shot propelled Ruby into the air and she landed on the rooftop. The man was cornered.

"Hey." Ruby called out to him, stopping him in his tracks. He mumbled something else but Ruby couldn't hear what he had said. Ruby readied herself unsure of what to expect. Suddenly a large VTOL class air ship appeared from the streets below. Ruby knew that this was his getaway plan. The man hopped onboard the bullhead and turned to face her.

"End of the line Red!" h shouted, throwing a crystal at her. Ruby glanced down to examine the crystal quickly. Realising that this was a red dust crystal, and the man had just fired a shot, Ruby waited for the inevitable. She braced herself from the impact, but instead of the fire she expected, Ruby felt only the wind blowing against her. Ruby looked up to see a woman standing in front of her with a spell brought up in front of her. The spell faded and the woman fired another few spells, causing the bullhead in front of her to shake violently from the impacting spells.

Ruby saw the man run into the cockpit, a few moments later, a woman stepped out. The woman's face was shrouded by the shadows. Ruby couldn't make out on what was going on, because if the fact that a real huntress was standing before her. The huntress cast a spell that caused multiple ice shards to fall from the sky. The air ship seemed like it took nearly no damage from the attack. The woman in the Bullhead started to charge up a spell. She fired the spell at the huntress, but she blocked with ease. She other woman tried another attack by summoning another spell at their feet. Ruby was in shock at the intense battle that was going on between the two mages. Ruby had however failed to notice the spell at her feet. The huntress saw this and cast Ruby forward out of the way just barley dodging the attack herself.

The pair of criminals took off in the bullhead, leaving the huntress and Ruby behind. Ruby looked at the woman standing beside her

"Y-you're a huntress." The woman turned to look at Ruby "Can I have your autograph!?" Ruby asked enthusiastically. The huntress bowed her head in disbelief.

"Fallow me." the huntress said as she turned to walk away.

"So, was that a yes or a no?" Ruby asked curiously

"Come on!" The huntress yelled

"Ok, ok jeez, no need to be so hostile." Ruby said as she took off after the huntress.

 **Vale police department H.Q.**

"I hope you realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly young lady! The huntress scolded her. "You put yourself and others in grave danger." Ruby shot up at this

"They started it!" Ruby tried to defend herself. The huntress sighed

"If it were up to me, you would be sent home, giving a pat on the back." Ruby looked excited "And a slap on the wrist!" She snapped. She slapped the table with her crop, just out of the way of Ruby's hand. Ruby squeaked as she whipped her hand back to defend it from harm. "But, there is someone here who would like to meet you." The huntress finished. The huntress walked off to the side. Standing in the doorway was a man with white hair, and a very dark green jacket.

"Ruby Rose." he said as he walked into the room. He was holding a coffee mug and a plate. Ruby couldn't tell what was on it, until the man placed it in front of her revealing about a dozen cookies. 'You have silver eyes." He said to her. Ruby was on her toes right now, she knew she had seen this man before, but couldn't recall from where. Ruby realised she should say something, but all that came out was a skittish "U-um."

"So, where did you learn to do this." He gestured to the screen of a video clip. It was her at the dust store earlier. Suddenly Ruby realised who this man was and knew she should make a good impression.

"S-signal academy." Ruby stuttered, she was now star struck at who stood before her.

"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" The man asked her.

"W-well one teacher in particular." Ruby said before taking a cookie off the plate and eating it quickly. The man smiled at her. Ruby loved cookies, Yang would always make them after they would get home from school.

"It's just, I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill level before. A dusty old crow." He said.

"Mmm, thts mh unle crw." Ruby realised that she hadn't swallowed her cookie and quickly downed it. "Sorry, that's my Uncle Crow. He is a teacher at signal." Ruby said, she reached for another cookie and started munching on it happily. "I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. but now I'm all like whoah cacha." Ruby said playfully showing off her 'fighting style' with her hands.

"So I've noticed." The man said smiling. "But what is an adorable girl such as yourself, doing at a school designed to train warriors?" The man asked her

"Well, I want to be a huntress." Ruby replied and took a bite of another cookie.

"You want to slay monsters?" He asked sounding sarcastically suppressed.

"Yeah." Ruby beamed with excitement. Ruby could feel a slight sugar rush coming on as she started to speak " I only have two more years of training left at signal, and then I am going to apply to Beacon. You see my sister is starting there this year, and she is trying to become a huntress, and um I'm trying to become a huntress because I want to help people. Plus our parents always taught us to help others, so I thought well you know may as well make a career out of it. Imeanthepolicearealrtght buthuntsmenandhuntressesarejustsomuchmoreromanticandexciting you know." Ruby finished

The huntress looked a bit concerned for her But the man just smiled at her.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked Ruby.

"You're professor Ozpin, you're the headmaster at Beacon." Ruby said happily

"Hello." He said in a monotone voice

"Nice to meet you." Ruby beamed back excitedly.

"You want to come to my school?" He asked her

"More than anything." Ruby replied. He looked up at the huntress who rolled her eyes at the idea.

"Well, ok then." Ozpin told her. Ruby was confused. She was wondering what had just happened.

"Wait what?" Ruby asked. She pinched herself to make sure that this wasn't a dream.

"Well I wish you good luck. Hopefully I will see you tomorrow When the first day starts." Ozpin said as he stood up and walked out of the room with the huntress close behind him. To Ruby, this was the best day of her life. She got to go into Vale for an entire day, She stopped a dust store robbery single-handedly, and she was accepted into Beacon two years early.

"Miss Rose, A certain Yang Xiao Long is here to bring you back home." Said one of the officers in the doorway. "If you would please follow me." He said leading her out of the interrogation room

Ruby noticed a person in one of the cells when she was walking through. She had her front to the wall so Ruby couldn't see who it was. The only thing that caught her eye, was the fact that she wasn't wearing a prison outfit. Ruby dropped the thought and moved on into the reception room where she saw her sister pacing with a worried look on her face.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted out causing her sister to jump. When Yang saw Ruby, she ran up to give her a big hug.

"I'm so happy that your ok." Yang said. "What happened to you."

"How about we save this chat for when we get back home." Ruby said

"Ok Ruby, fair enough." Yang replied as they walked out of the building.

 **Back in Patch.**

"Ok Ruby, please tell me what happened." Yang pleaded

"Well I was done shopping for the things for Crescent Rose so I decided to listing to music and read at the same time. This guy came up to me and tried robbing me. I kicked his butt, then another guy came around the corner and I kicked him out the window, I rode him like a surfboard. So the other guys attacked but the one guy tried escaping. So I chased after him." Ruby started. Yang was just soaking up the information that Ruby was telling her.

"So then the bad guys got away and the huntress brought me to the police department. She told me what I did was a good thing but I could have gotten hurt. But then, and here is the best part, Professor Ozpin walked into the room, and at the end of the conversation, HE INVITED ME INTO BEACON!" Ruby exclaimed as Yang's eyes widened.

"Well I guess we should both get some sleep, big day tomorrow." Yang told her. "Good night Rubes." Yang said as she walked out of the room.

line:

"Come on Yang hurry, we are going to be late!" Ruby shouted as they ran through the streets of patch. They needed to get to the airship as fast as possible.

"Don't worry Ruby, I'm right behind you" Yang said as she kept running. The docks were in sight and the two ran onboard the airship as they were about to take off.

"Phew, we, made, it." Ruby said in between breaths.

"Yeah, we did it." Yang replied, the pair sat down by one of the walls, trying to catch their breath. They stood up again to see that they were almost to Beacon. Yang ran up to Ruby and gave her a big hug.

"I still can't believe that my baby sister is going to Beacon with me, this is the best day ever!" Yang said excitedly. Ruby was used to the affection that her sister gave her, but it always made her feel awkward in a public place.

"Please stop." Ruby spat out

"But I'm so proud of you." Yang cooed at her sister. Ruby looked down in embarrassment

"Really sis, it was nothing." Ruby told her

"What do you mean. Everyone at Beacon is going to think that you're the bees knees." Yang said excited for her little sister. The pair continued to talk about this topic, until a projection of the huntress that saved Ruby appeared.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." The projection said to the students on the airship

"Who is that?" Yang asked her sister. As if she had heard Yang ask her question, the projection spoke again.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among the privileged few who have been selected to attend this prestigious academy . Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsman and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have all demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. But now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The hologram faded and Ruby ran over to look at the awe inspiring view. She could see the island from the airship.

"I guess home isn't too far after all." Ruby said. Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder

"Beacon is our home now." Yang told her. Just then a boy ran past them looking as if he was about to throw up; Ruby smiled.

"Well I guess the view isn't for everyone." Ruby joked

"I wonder who we are going to meet." Yang said aloud

"Who knows." Ruby said as she looked down at her sisters feet. Ruby noticed something and gagged at the sight "Aww Yang gross, you have puke on your shoe" Yang started to panic

"Gross , gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross." Yang said as fast as Ruby on a sugar rush. Ruby backed away from her sister to try to avoid getting any on herself while her sister was flailing.

line:

The airship landed at Beacon. All the students started to flow out of the airship excitedly. Ruby and Yang both had the same reaction to the sight of Beacon up close.

"View from Vale, doesn't got nothing on this." Yang said smugly. Yang looked over to see ruby in shock and awe at some of the other students weapons.

"Whoa sis, that kids got a classable staff, oh and she's got a fire sword!" Ruby exclaimed as Yang tried to pull her back into the presence of reality .

"Easy there little sister, they're just weapons." Yang began before getting cut off by Ruby.

"Just Weapons? They're an extension of ourselves, they're a part of us!" Ruby exclaimed

"Well why can't you do this over your own weapon, aren't you happy with it? Yang asked as Ruby unravelled her scythe, holding it like a baby.

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose. I just really like seeing new ones, it's like meeting new people, except better." Ruby mumbled the last part. Yang pulled Ruby's hood over her head jokingly.

"Ruby come on, why don't you try to make some friends of your own? Yang asked

"Why would I need friends if I have you?" Ruby asked back

"Well actually my friends are here right here now." Yang said as three people ran past Ruby knocking her into a spiral. "I've got to go catch up ok bye." Yang finished and she took off with her friends.

"Wait, aren't we supposed to go to our dorms, where are our dorms, do we have dorms?" Ruby said aloud still spinning. When she stopped she fell backwards from the dizziness. Ruby opened her eyes to a girl standing over her in a white dress.

"What are you doing!?" the girl drastically asked Ruby.

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Again, just to clarify, I am still working on getting all of my lost notes back. Feel free to leave a review or PM me if you have any questions or concerns about the story. In the famous words of Michal. J. Caboose: And done, bye._


	6. Say Goodbye

_**A.N.:**_ _please help me… I am confined in my room and under a house arrest. These people won't leave me alone…. rwbyfan5 Help me please_

 _Weiss: What are you doing keep writing._

 _Ruby: If you want to that is_

 _Blake *Sigh*_

 _Yang: JUST DO IT!_

 _Me: LOUD NOISES!_

* * *

 **Say Goodbye**

* * *

Weiss awoke with a sense of accomplishment. In the days prior, she had been accepted into Beacon, actually got a remark from her father stating how proud he was about her, and for once in her life she felt that she was in control of her own destiny. Weiss got out of her bed and stretched to shake off the drowsiness of sleep that still lingered. Weiss was already packed for her trip to Beacon; she always had a proficiency to pack early. Weiss could hear footsteps on the other side of her door, followed by a peaceful knock.

"Ms. Schnee, are you awake? It is almost six-thirty." Said the unmistakeable voice of Kate from the other side

"Yes Kate, I will be ready in just a moment." Weiss replied in a well mannered tone. Weiss went into her washroom to change. She hated the idea that someone might walk in on her while she was 'getting ready.' She pulled off her robe and took the her combat dress out. Pulling the dress on, Weiss looked around for her jacket that went with her outfit. She didn't see it in the washroom so she assumed that she had left it on her bed when he had left. She exited the washroom to see her sister, Winter standing in the doorway.

"Hey Winter, how are things with you?" Weiss asked in a respectful voice. Her sister simply smiled.

"Well, I'm still trying to figure out why you would want to go to Beacon over Atlas." Her sister replied, looking into her icy blue eyes, much like her own.

Weiss sighed, she knew that this question would come up at some point.

"Look Winter, before you say anything, it wasn't to get away from you, mother, or father. I'm going to Vale because I've already learned everything here, and I seriously doubt that I could learn anything by going to the school here. I want go to Vale and attend Beacon, rather than sit through all the things I already know." Weiss explained as her sister was processing all of this. She smiled again.

"So, it didn't have anything to do with Brandon, did it?" Winter asked jokingly.

Weiss knew all too well why she had brought him up. It wasn't exactly a secret that Brandon had a crush on her. He even confessed it to her one time. But they would love to fight each other, they were rivals and they both knew it. Still, Weiss couldn't get Winter to stop bugging her about him.

"Is this a serious question, or are you just pulling at my strings?" Weiss asked, a bit annoyed at her sister. Winter laughed at her remark.

"Well, in all seriousness of course." Winter replied after she finally stopped chuckling.

"Well, he is part of the reason." Weiss told her "But it's only because he is a distraction for me." She realised that she probably should have left out that last bit, as her sister began to chuckle again.

"Not like that." Weiss said trying to defend herself from her last statement. "I simply mean that he is a physical distraction, as in he will literally bug me until he gets my attention."

"Weiss, Weiss, Weiss, are you telling me you are leaving your friends and family, to get a little peace and quiet, from one guy?" Winter asked shaking her head.

"No! Not just that. I want a new life, a chance to meet new people. Does that make any sense?" Weiss replied. Her sister nodded in understanding "Good, now if you don't mind, I still have some things to do before I leave." Weiss added

"Ok little sister, I will see you when you head off then." Winter said leaving the room.

"Now then, where is that damn top." Weiss thought as she started to search. She opened up her closet to see that her top had been hanging up the entire time. She took it off the hanger and slipped the top on. Now she was ready. She walked out of her bedroom and into a large hallway.

"Weiss." said a voice behind her. Weiss turned to see her mother standing behind her.

"Good day mother." Weiss said respectfully.

"And how are you on this fine morning my dear?" Her mother asked

"Excited, and also a little scared." Weiss said giving her mother a hug.

"Well, I will not keep you from your task at hand. I will see you before you depart." Her mother said walking away. Weiss continued to retrieve Myrtenaster from the personal armoury. She walked down the halls until she found the right corridor. The Schnee mansion was a maze; a maze that Weiss knew like the back of her hand. Weiss walked into the armoury and found Myrtenaster. She just needed the dust to use her weapon effectively. She took off to go see the dust vault.

When Weiss arrived, she found a note from her father.

"Weiss, the amount of dust I will allow you to take is in the cases in the back of the vault. there is one case per dust type. Use it sparingly." Weiss looked up from the note to see four cases of dust exactly where the note said they would be. She asked two of the butlers to load the cases onto a trolley. feeling that she had everything ready, she just needed to do one more thing before she left.

* * *

Weiss arrived at the Atlas cafe. She went inside to go up to the balcony to see if the person she was meeting was here yet.

"Hey Weiss, what's the occasion?" The boy said to her as she sat down across the table from him

"Hello Brandon, I know I should have mentioned this sooner but I'm not going to combat school in Atlas." She said. The boy had a questioning face.

"What do you mean Weiss?" He asked as if she had just said a joke.

"I mean that I will be going to Vale, later today. I just thought that I should let you know, and I would have earlier but time just wasn't on my side." She told him

"Well, good on you Weiss." Brandon said with a smile on his face.

"You aren't mad at me?" Weiss asked him now clearly confused.

"Weiss, you and I have known each other a long time. What, do you think we will never see each other again?" Brandon asked.

This was one of the things she liked about Brandon. He was always so understanding of others. Sure he was a little rough around the edges but he was a really nice guy. Weiss smiled, she had known him for years and he hadn't change a single bit.

"Look Brandon, before I go, I just want you to know that I am thankful for looking out for me for all these years. I hope that we see each other in the near future." She said to him with a tear rolling down her eye.

"Of course we will. I'll be going to Vale for the Vytal festival." He said calm as could be

"Look, I will make up for not telling you about this sooner." She said to him as a waiter came over to them.

"May I take your order?" The man asked them

"Just a coffee please." Weiss said

"Tea." Said Brandon nodding his head slightly.

"Alright, the drinks will be here in a few minutes." The waiter said as he walked away from them.

"So, Weiss, what did you say about making something up to me?" Brandon asked her suspiciously. Weiss giggled softly

"Well it's pretty obvious that you have a crush on me, so consider this a date, and my treat." Weiss said to the now cherry red Brandon.

* * *

They had enjoyed each other's company until Weiss looked down at her watch realising that she had to get home so that she could go to Vale.

"It was fun Brandon, but I'm afraid that I have a flight to catch today." Weiss said standing up

"Yeah, oh well, good luck in Vale." Brandon said tucking in his chair. Weiss walked up to her friend. He stood just slightly taller than her but not by much. Giving him a quick handshake, Weiss turned to leave, but turned back around and gave Brandon a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye." Weiss said to Brandon. He was frozen in place after what she had just did.

Weiss stepped into the car and it drove away.

* * *

Weiss was back in the Schnee manor saying her goodbyes to some of the staff as she walked by. Weiss walked up to the reception desk where Kate was working. Kate looked up at her and put a smile on her face.

"Miss Schnee, how are you?" Kate asked her. Weiss walked around the counter where she was sitting and gave her a hug.

"Thank you Kate, for looking out for me all these years." Weiss told her "I hope that we see each other again soon." She said breaking the hug.

"Of course, Miss Schnee. It has been an honour to know that the little girl from all those years ago, has grown into the woman that stands before me today." Kate said smiling.

Kate wished Weiss good luck as she exited the building to where her family was waiting for her. She looked up at her family who were all trying to put on their 'happy for you' face. Weiss walked up to them and gave them each a hug. She ended the hug with her father.

"Go now, chase your dream. If you follow the dream, then I know that nothing will ever bring you down." Her father told her with an actual caring voice.

"I promise that I won't let you down, ever again." Weiss said as she stepped into the car and closed the door.

She looked back at her family standing there and felt sorry for leaving them like this. However, Weiss had a mission, and she had promised to see it through. The ride to the Atlas airport was fairly short. It was about 3:00 now, Weiss would probably arrive in Vale at about 9:00 in the evening. Weiss sighed, only one night in the hotel and she would be in Beacon.

* * *

Weiss was woken up by one of the butlers with her on the trip to Vale. She realised that she had fallen asleep and that they were now in Vale. Weiss got up and exited the private plane. The first order of business was to check into the hotel that she and her two butlers would be staying at for the night. The hotel that they were staying at was just across the street from Vale's airport. Weiss smiled at the fact that even though she was here, her father still wanted to give the illusion that she could still go back home. Weiss entered the hotel and asked for the keys to their rooms that they would be staying in.

Weiss walked down the long hallway to look for her room. In a strange way, the hallway sort of reminded her of home. Weiss shook the feeling as she walked into her room. Tomorrow was a new day, she would finally be able to have the life that she had wanted.

The next day arrived quite fast. Weiss hadn't gotten much sleep due to the plane ride. She looked at her clock to see that she was right on time.

"Damn." Weiss thought to herself. Weiss always was a person who liked to be ahead of the game by getting places early. She ran to get dressed and do everything else before she ran out the door. Even though she was early, Weiss was still going to try to be as early as possible and showed no signs of slowing down. Weiss had completely skipped breakfast altogether and ran to get on the airship. She took her seat knowing that the butlers would get her baggage. She could finally relax knowing that she had made it onto the aircraft.

The aircraft finally began to take off after about eight minutes. Weiss took a deep breath knowing that she had made it. She knew that she had made it to Beacon, followed her dreams, and would keep doing so until the day she died.

The trip to Beacon was fairly easy going. She had been avoiding people as to not draw attention to herself. Weiss felt like the happiest person in the world right now. She turned to look around at some of the other students that were on the ship with her. She noticed many boys and girls who seemed like adamant fighters. Then her eye caught a sight of a reddish hair. She looked to see who it had belonged to and then she noticed her, Pyrrha Nikos. Weiss thought for a second and realise that his girl was one of the best fighters in her year, in all of Remnant. This got Weiss thinking, if she could befriend Pyrrha Nikos, they would easily be a force to be reckoned with. Weiss snapped out of her daydream. The aircraft was about to land at Beacon.

Weiss felt the small shake of them stopping. She exited the ship to see where her baggage was. As Weiss had predicted, her two butlers had already loaded the bags on a trolley and were walking toward her with her items. Weiss turned to look at the school she would be attending for the next four years. A sudden crash caught Weiss's attention and she turned to see what all the commotion was about. She saw that most of her suitcases were lying on the ground with a girl in a red hood and cape sitting in front of the mess. This was not how she pictured her first day to go.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, she sounded a little more mad than she actually was though. The girl fought for words.

"S-sorry." The girl said to her. Weiss didn't want to come off as the bitchy one but she was stressed at the fact that the dust could have gone off killing both of them.

"Sorry? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" Weiss asked her.

"N-no why?" the girl stuttered as she handed Weiss one of her suitcases. Weiss took it out of the girls hands with care.

"Look, this is dust. If any of this had gone off it could be enough to kill either of us on a good day." Weiss said to the sulking girl. She decided to lighten up a bit like Brandon had once told her. Weiss sighed " Look, I'm sorry for yelling, today has just been kind of stressful and overwhelming to me."

"Why's that?" The girl asked as she perked up a bit.

"Well, I've just recently come here from Atlas leaving my friends and family behind, plus the fact that I will be attending one of the most prestigious combat schools in the world can kind of give that impression to you." Weiss stated as the girl looked up at her. "Well as we aren't off to the best start. What about introductions." Weiss cleared her throat. "I'm We-" She began just before getting cut off by a girl holding one of the vials of dust from her suitcase.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world" The girl said handing her the vial of red dust. "Seems like this belongs to you." She said as she turned to walk away.

"Thank you." Weiss replied. The girl simply waved back at her as she walked away. "Well, I guess that you already know my name now, what's yours? Weiss asked

"My name is Ruby." She said quietly

"Well Ruby, what are you doing here, aren't you a little bit young to be attending Beacon?" Weiss asked her. Ruby perked up a bit. The two began walking toward the school.

"Well that's a funny story, you see there were these guys who decided they were going to rob a dust store while I was getting things for Crescent Rose." Ruby said as Weiss cut her off

"Who's Crescent Rose?" Weiss asked her confused as Caboose. Ruby pulled out an object from her lower back and unfolded it into a Scythe.

"This is Crescent Rose." Ruby said triumphantly. "So what do you got?" She asked excitedly. Weiss pulled out her Rapier.

"This is Myrtenaster, I can infuse dust with the blade to give it other abilities." Weiss said happy about her weapon. The two walked into the main hall as they chatted. Ruby brought back up the story of how she got into beacon. Weiss simply listened and nodded as Ruby told her story.

"So then Professor Ozpin asks if I would like to go to Beacon. I accept and he just let's me in two years early." Ruby said finishing her story. They both looked up at a voice trying to get the girls attention.

"Ruby over here, I saved you a spot." A girl with Yellow hair said to them waving.

"Hey um I got to go, but I will see you after the ceremony." Ruby said as she took off to meet the yellow haired girl. Weiss accepted this and looked around to find a spot in the crowd. She spotted a spot and walked over to it. Sitting down the boy beside her tried to get her attention.

"Hi there." He said to her calmly.

"Good day." She replied softly.

"My name is Jaune, Jaune Arc." He said smiling and extending his hand

"Weiss Schnee." She said as Professor Ozpin tapped the microphone. It emitted a screech that quickly silenced the entire hall.

"I will keep this brief. You have all traveled here in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. When you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, a need of purpose and direction. You assume that knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will make you realise that knowledge, can only carry you so far. It is up to you, to take the first step." Ozpin finished as another woman walked up to the microphone and began to speak.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready you are all dismissed. She Spoke, then walked off stage.

"Well, that was cheery." Jaune said aloud.

"My thoughts exactly." Weiss replied as she stood up.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" He asked

"No thanks, I'm not hungry." Weiss lied. She was actually pretty hungry, but she didn't want to think that she liked him or anything. She started to walk away before she turned to look at the blonde boy sitting in the chair. "Well, I will see you around." She said before walking away to go see if she could find Ruby again.

 _ **A.N.**_ _: Well there we go. Weiss will still hold her mean impression on people, however she will be a bit more understanding with others as seen in this chapter._


	7. Second Chances

**Second Chances**

* * *

Blake was sitting in her jail cell on her bed waiting for tomorrow to come; when she could finally make a fresh start. She kept thinking about Adam and how they had betrayed each other. Blake had betrayed him by leaving him without warning. But what was worse, was that Adam had turned into a soulless monster right in front of her very eyes. The worst part was that he had tried to turn her as well. Blake was done being manipulated for her skill and so she left, the White Fang and him. She hadn't intended to get arrested, but she hadn't planned to get away scot free either.

Blake heard people behind her walking around outside her cell, but didn't bother to turn around. She was too busy questioning if what she was doing was right or not. Blake was starting to feel tired, so she prepared herself for bed.

"One more night in this hellhole. Uh, who am I kidding, this could have been a lot worse." Blake said to herself softly. "I hope Adam is alright."

"Who is this Adam?" one of the guards asked as he passed by, stopping at her cell.

Since Blake was a Faunus, she had very attuned hearing making it so very few people could sneak up on her. This guard somehow managed to sneak up on her, and scared her a quarter to death. Blake took a deep breath and replied half honestly

" He's an old friend of mine." Blake said without looking at him.

The guard shook his head and left without so much as a word. Blake lay there in her bed looking up at the ceiling remembering all of the fun times they had experienced together. One time they had infiltrated the Schnee dust company and nobody even knew they were there. Blake had always felt as though she was free when on the little heists that Adam and her preformed. Blake and Adam had vowed never to kill an unarmed person. When Adam decided that he would break his vow, she decided to leave.

"I wonder if they know what happened to me?" Blake thought to herself as she felt sleep creeping over her.

She smiled at the fact that she had kept her vow when Adam tried to break it, that is what defined her from him. He was the monster and Blake was just a person who got caught up with the wrong people.

Blake lay her head back and fell into a light sleep.

* * *

Blake awoke the same way she had for the past seven days, with a guard yelling at the top of his lungs and pounding on the bars of other inmates cells with his baton. Every time that she awoke, it was with a start and she was ready to fight. Blake had trained herself to wake up quickly and with an adrenaline rush when she heard the slightest sign of danger. It was a necessary trait for surviving in the world of Remnant, especially when she wasn't within the safety of one of the kingdoms. Blake sighed calming herself down a little bit and opened her cell door. She avoided everyone in the building wherever she could, inmates and guards alike.

Blake walked up to the counter and received whatever passed for a breakfast in the prison. She sat down and pulled out a book that the guards had been so kind as to "give" her. She kept flipping through pages while she ate. As she finished her chapter a guard walked up to her.

"Ms. Belladonna, would you follow me." The guard said. She put the book in her bag and got up. Following the guard the entered an interrogation room.

Sitting down on the chair she thought, " _Great, this again_."

The guards had been trying to interrogate her for the entire week but it would eventually end up the same fruitless and a waste of time. She looked up to see the door open and the face of Professor Ozpin appear, taking a seat across from her, he took a sip of the coffee that he always seeme to have.

"Well Ms. Belladonna, how was your week?" he asked striking up a conversation. Blake was quite annoyed for reasons quite understand and decided to respond with a bit of sarcasm.

"I've sat around doing nothing for a week before, but this isn't an experience that I want to relive ." Blake replied wanting Ozpin to get to the point.

"Now then Blake, are you ready for the life of a huntress? it will not be an easy one, I can assure you that much." He asked losing all sense of sarcasm.

"All I need is Gambol Shroud, and I'm sure that I can take on the world." Blake said to him. "However, my organization has definitely learned of my betrayal by now. It won't be long until they find me so I would appreciate it if we got out of here as soon as possible." Ozpin nodded telling her to follow him as he stood up and exited the interrogation room.

She followed him to where all of the inmates weapons and other belongings were stored. Blake quickly found Gambol Shroud and then left. Blake noticed that Ozpin was being unusually quiet, but she figured that he just didn't have anything important to say. once they stepped outsider Ozpin turned to face her.

"Now then Blake, head to the air station and find one of the aircraft that will take you to Beacon." Ozpin told her pointing in the direction of the air station. "Look for a ship that looks like a bird." He said.

"Are you not going to take me there?" Blake asked .

"I trust you Blake, for your honesty and the fact that you can handle yourself very well in a fight." Ozpin replied. Blake was shocked that he had so much trust in her.

The fact was that one week prior she has betrayed her organization and been arrested that same day. If Blake had met someone with that type background, she wouldn't even get near the person. Blake looked up to find that Ozpin wasn't standing beside her anymore. Blake looked around surprised that the man had just disappeared in the blink of an eye. Blake let the thought drop and started walking toward the air docks.

Blake could hear people all around as she traveled through the streets but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. looking around to trying to confirm her suspicions. when that proved useless she tried shaking off the feeling but it still lingered. Someone was definitely following her. Blake decided to get off the street and went into an alleyway. She looked up to see a male wolf faunus standing in front of her. The man just glared at her Blake was far past uneasy at this point. so she decided not to fight him and turn around. When Blake turned, she met eyes with a female lion faunus, and a male dog faunus. She heard the man behind her unsheathe his weapon and the other two did the same. Blake mentally prepared herself for what was about to happen.

"Blake Belladonna, you have betrayed your brothers and sisters of the White Fang. As you know, there is only one punishment for betrayal." The dog faunus said. Blake took a breath closed her eyes, she heard the faunus behind her lunge at her back. Blake waited with her hand near Gambol Shroud. As soon as the lunging faunus was in her close proximity, Blake created a shadow double and jumped off of it avoiding the man's attack. Blake landed behind in front of the three faunus with Gambol shroud in its cleaver form.

"Brothers and sister, I have not betrayed you, for you have betrayed me!" Blake said with her rage building. "The White Fang was a symbol of peace and unity between the humans and the faunus. By attacking robbing and killing people, the White Fang that I knew is no more."

"Maybe Ms. Belladonna, but did those protests actually do anything? When we started attacking the humans, we were no longer the lesser beings that humanity saw us as. The humans saw us as equals." The deer faunus said to her readying her sword.

"But we wanted the respect from the humans. The only reason that we are treated equally is out of fear!" Blake shouted taking Gambol Shroud out and into the katana form. "I do not want to fight you, but you are leaving me with no choice." Blake said solemnly.

"You will die for your treachery. Be it here, or in the future" The wolf faunas said lunging at Blake with his axe.

Blake blocked the incoming attack and countered by bashing him with the blunt side of Gambol Shroud knocking him off balance. The lion faunus attacked her back while she was recovering from the attack, but the other girl was too slow. Blake leapt off a shadow double and while in the air she cast another attacking the girl from behind.

Blake turned to see the dog faunus in a downswing motion with his sword. Blake pulled the sheath off of her back and blocked the incoming attack with it, then attacked his legs with the katana form, cutting off one of his legs. The faunus screamed in pain as blood spewed out of his body. Blake gagged at the sight that appeared before her but needed to act fast. Blake heard the other faunus behind her and blocked their incoming attacks as they attempted to hit her. Blake cast a shadow double and back flipped off of it hitting the deer faunus straight in the jaw. She other girl was out cold from the attack. Blake lunged at the last faunus. She was faster than he was and landed a few hits before the man before he finally went down from exhaustion of his aura. An attack from Blake cut into the Wolf Faunus' arm and he yelped in pain.

Blake looked around to see if there were anymore White Fang members. She decided the coast was clear and moved on to get to the airport. Blake turned the corner to see a shop across the street from her.

She casually stepped inside the clothing shop. She took a quick look around the store for things that would hide her appearance a bit. She found a ribbon and started tying it around her cat ears into a bow. She gestured the shop keeper to come and help her with making the bow. The shopkeeper came over and gave her a hand happily.

"Don't like the attention from people?" He asked as he helped tie the bow around her ears.

"You could say that." Blake replied as he cut the ribbon to a perfect length to fit around her ears. She took the ribbon off of her ears and allowed the shopkeeper to appraise the ribbon.

"Five lien." He decided. Blake took the exact amount out of her pocket and gave it to the man.

"Don't hide who you are for too long." He said as she picked up the ribbon. "If you hide yourself, then it's possible to lose yourself too. If that happens, just know where to look to find yourself, alright?" Blake gave a nod and exited the store.

She proceeded casually down the street but kept her head down for good measure. She walked through the crowded streets of Vale until arriving at the air station. Blake found the "bird like" airship that Ozpin was talking about and boarded without a word. She took one of the empty seats and searched around in her bag. She found the book that the guards had given her and proceeded to read the novel. She read the book through the whole flight to Beacon.

* * *

The airship finally arrived and Blake stood up to disembark. She walked forward, continuing to read and had became fairly disconnected from her surroundings. She didn't see the girl standing in front of her and bumped into her accidentally. Blake dropped her book and looked around still surprised at what had just happened.

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Blake said to the girl. The girl had brown hair with hints of purple streaks near the roots. Her eyes were a Dark purple color that were giving off a deer in the headlights look to them. She bent over, picked picked Blake's book and handed it to her.

"It's ok. My name is Magenta, by the way, but I prefer Mag." The girl shyly said to her.

"I'm Blake, nice to meet you." Blake replied.

"It was nice to meet you too, but I better get going. I don't want to miss out on anything here." Mag said shyly

"Okay, again, sorry for running into you." Blake said as the girl shyly walked off.

Blake stepped off the airship and walked over to a ledge where she sat down to continue reading. She continued reading peacefully, until she heard a crash. Blake looked up to see one girl on the floor and another girl shouting at her. She saw a vile of some sort and picked it up. She turned the vial and looked at the symbol on the front. She noticed the Schnee Dust Co. Symbol and decided to walk over to the two girls and return it.

"My name is We-" The girl started to say but Blake cut her off.

"Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Blake said "Seems like this belongs to you." Blake said handing the vial to her and turned to walk away.

" _Well I might as well head to the initiation._ " Blake thought to herself as she walked toward the main hall.

She entered and took a quick glance around. She walked over to a wall so no would talk to her. She liked the silence, to an extent. Blake took out her book again and continued reading, she read a few pages until professor Ozpin came onto the stage.

* * *

Blake was bored after the small presentation. Deciding to look around a bit she started off in a random direction. The first thing that she found was the cafeteria. She felt her stomach growl and took a sniff of the air. She smiled at the nice scent of tuna wafting through the room. She walked into the nearly empty building and sat down at a table pulled out her book and again continued to read.

A few minutes later, the intercom came on and told everyone that lunch was being served. She put her book away and walked up to get one of the tuna sandwiches, then went back to her spot. She ate in peace and decided to take another look around the school when she was done.

* * *

Blake waited the entire day, just for it to end. She had explored almost every inch of Beacon and was now officially bored and it was getting dark out. She had changed into her pyjamas and started to read her book. She couldn't see the words very well so she decided to light a candle so she could continue to read efeciantly. Blake looked up as a boy walked up to her

"Sorry to bother you, do you mind if I borrow one of those candles?" The boy was a wolf faunus and had a nice smile too.

"Sure, go ahead." Blake smiled back

"Thanks, hey, what's your name? Just out of curiosity" He asked

"Blake. What's yours?"

"Oh, I'm Steel, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She held out her hand with an unlit candle.

"Thanks" Steel smiled

"Don't mention it" She smiled back. The boy went back with his candle in hand to probably go read. Blake decided to head off to sleep and tucked herself in. She let herself go and let sleep take her under its spell.

* * *

Blake awoke really early the next day. She was used to waking up early as it was a necessary skill to survive beyond the borders of the kingdoms, however it appeared that nobody else was awake. She took out her book and began to read. She estimated that the time was about five o'clock in the morning. Blake read her story from the halfway mark where she left off. She read for about an hour and a half before finishing her book. She set down the finished novel and looked around to see if anyone was awake yet. She noticed a few people getting up and Blake decided to do the same. Blake walked out of the room to get dressed into her combat outfit. Their initiation started that day, and Blake wanted to pass with nothing less than flying colors.

 _ **A.N.:**_ _You know, I feel like this story needs more humor… I'm going to put up a pole. If you want more then just say so….._

 _Yang: So, going to keep writing?_

 _Ruby: It's really fun to watch you write_

 _Weiss: And yet you won't read to study._

 _Blake: *Smiles*_

 _Me: No, please, no fourth wall breaks._

 _Yang: Too late sucker, your characters are coming too._

 _Me: Oh dear lord._


	8. Introductions

_**A.N.:**_ _Well, another chapter is here._

 _Yang: It's done already?_

 _Me: Yes, they're just rewrites._

 _Weiss: Well, that's depressing._

 _?: Ooh, can we be introduced in this chapter?!_

 _Me: Yeah, fine, okay, just let me do my thing._

 _Yang: Ba Dum Tss._

 _Me: YANG!_

* * *

 ** **Introductions****

* * *

Ruby sat down next to her sister, who noticed her looking especially happy.

"Well, who was that sis?" Yang asked curiously.

"Oh, I accidentally tripped when your friends knocked me off balance and I fell into that girl's luggage." Ruby replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

By the looks of things Ruby was really unhappy that Yang had ditched her, but from Yang's perspective of being a "people person", she was on a plus one for the day.

"Well, I guess you should be thanking me." Yang boasted.

"For what? You ditched me, made me regret coming to the school before the first day had even started, and on top of that, I could have been killed from the dust that could have exploded." Ruby scolded her sister.

"Yikes, sorry about that." Yang said as she shrank into her seat.

She had no idea that she had just about killed her sister.

"It's ok sis, I know what you meant, I am happy that I may or may not have made a friend today. Thank you." Ruby said cheerfully.

Yang looked up at her sister thankful that Ruby had been so understanding. Yang smiled widely and gave her a big hug.

"Aww, you are probably the most understanding person on the planet." Yang cooed at her little sister.

Ruby flailed off Yang.

"Yang, stop!" Ruby laughed at her sister.

Yang let her sister go, laughing. They both stood up and left the main hall of Beacon and they left to go to the cafeteria.

* * *

"Well, this is a really big place." Ruby stated as they walked into the cafeteria.

"Yeah." Yang agreed struck by the sheer size of the building. "Now then, let's go get some food."

She took off toward the lunch that was being served, with Ruby close behind her. They dished up some of the sandwiches being served and sat down near a boy with blonde hair holding his hands on his head. Ruby took note of this.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ruby asked the boy

"Who, me?" He flustered

"Yeah, you seem kind of bummed out."

"Oh, it's just I hit on this girl and she shut me down." The boy said with a sigh. "I'm Jaune, by the way."

He held his hand out and Ruby obliged, shaking his hand.

"Ruby." She said, smiling. "Oh, and this is my sister Yang." She said gesturing to her sister.

Yang gave a simple wave then went back to eating.

"So, um, uh." Ruby struggled to strike up a conversation.

Jaune was having the same trouble on his end. Yang started snickering as Ruby hit her on the back of the head playfully.

"What!" Yang said still snickering.

Ruby gave her the cold shoulder and held her cup up to Jaune

"To the socially awkward." Ruby said raising her glass.

Jaune raised his cup of water into the air. The two shared a laugh and took a sip of water. Yang shook her head at her sister, still smiling.

"I'd better get going, I need to do some things to get ready for initiation tomorrow." Yang said, stood up and left the room.

"Well, that's Yang for you." Ruby smiled; Jaune sighed

"I'm not doing anything, you want to hang out as the two socially awkward people." Jaune suggested.

Ruby nodded and stood up to go put her tray away. The two put their trays away from their small meal and went outside.

"So, did you like the fly to Beacon?" Ruby asked as Jaune started shaking his head.

"Actually, no. I hate flying, I get really bad motion sickness." Jaune said looking down in embarrassment.

"Oh, that's where I saw you from. You accidentally threw up on Yang on the airship." Ruby laughed. Jaune turned as red as a tomato.

"Um, sorry about that." Jaune apologized.

"Oh, it's okay, vomit boy." Ruby said jokingly.

"Look all I'm saying is that motion sickness is a bigger problem than people let on." Jaune defended himself.

The two of them walked out of the cafeteria and into the afternoon air.

"I'm sorry okay, vomit boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said calmly as Jaune sighed.

"Tell you what, let's just drop this conversation and just move on." Jaune said sounding a bit depressed.

"Okay. So, um, I've got this thing." Ruby said unravelling Crescent Rose causing Jaune to jump backward.

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?" Jaune asked baffled at Ruby's weapon. Ruby smiled at the one thing that she could talk about.

"It's also a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle." Ruby said happily. Jaune had the most confused look on his face.

"Uh, a what?" Jaune asked as Ruby cocked her rifle.

"It's also a gun." Ruby said bluntly before lightning up "So what do you got?" She asked bluntly.

"I've got this sword." Jaune said trying to entertain Ruby. Ruby looked at the sword in awe, seeing this Jaune kept going. "Yeah I've got a shield too." He said.

"Well I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, I guess I _did_ go a little overboard when I designed it." Ruby said gawking over Crescent Rose.

"Wait, you made that?" Jaune asked dumbfounded.

"Of course! All of the students who attended Signal made their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?" Ruby asked.

"It's a hand-me-down. My grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune sulked.

"Sounds like a family heirloom to me." Ruby said trying to lighten the mood. "Well I like it, not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics." Jaune said, trying to lighten his mood.

"Hey um where are we going?" Ruby asked looking around.

"Oh, I don't know, I was following you." Jaune stated. They walked around the corner and Ruby felt someone run into her.

"Oww!" Ruby exclaimed as she fell on her butt.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Jaune asked kneeling down beside her. there were two guys standing in front of them; one of them was on the ground like Ruby.

"Whoa, what happened." The guy on the ground said shaking off the impact with Ruby

"Are you okay?" The other guy said to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, what about them?" the guy said getting off the ground.

"I'm okay, I guess that we were looking where we were going, were we?" Ruby chuckled slightly as Jaune helped her on her feet.

"Yeah, I'm Rusty by the way." The red-haired boy said shaking off from the fall.

"And I'm Teal." The brown haired boy said giving a wave.

"I'm Jaune. Nice to meet you." Jaune said smiling.

"And I'm Ruby!" She said a little louder than she meant too.

"Energetic, I like it." Rusty said.

His voice sounded coarse, and yet at the same time smooth

"Oh cut it out Romeo, you just met." Teal said to his friend earning a small laugh from the four of them and also death glare from Rusty

"So where are you guys from?" Ruby asked just trying to carry on the conversation.

"We're actually not from Vale, we grew up in Mistral believe it or not." Rusty said happily.

"Why did you choose Beacon then?" Asked Ruby confused

"Change of scenery for starters." Rusty said

"What about you, Ruby?" Teal asked tilting his head in question.

"I grew up with my sister on an island just off the coast of Vale." Ruby cheerily said

"So, Patch then?" Teal asked

"That's right!" Ruby said sporadically.

Again she had been a little louder than she had hoped she would be.

"What about you Jaune?" Rusty asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, I've li-ived in Vale all m-my life." Jaune stuttered.

"Wait a minute, if you lived in Vale then what were you doing in Patch?" Ruby questioned her friend.

"What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked sounding surprised by the question before him

"We were on the same airship." Ruby explained.

"Oh that, I was in the neighbourhood at the time. Spent the night in the hotel there." Jaune said in a less enthusiastic mood.

"Makes sense I guess" Ruby said.

The awkward silence was starting to naw at Ruby so she thought up something that they all have in common

"Well I have this thing." Ruby said whipping out Crescent Rose into its scythe form. This action scared Jaune half to death again

"Cool!" Rusty exclaimed walking over to examine the weapon

"Is that also a sniper rifle built in?" Teal asked

"Sure is, what do you guys have." Ruby said gawking over her weapon

"Well, I have this dual bladed sword." Teal said pulling out a small weapon. He gave it a jolt forward and it extended into a double sided sword that very much resembled an energy sword. "The one part of the blade flips up to reveal a pistol like gun as well." He said shrinking the weapon, he flipped one of the blades across the handguard to match the other side. The end opened to reveal a tiny barrel at the end

"Yeah and all I've got is this." Rusty said pulling out an odd shaped weapon. The weapon was a cross between really big brass knuckles with a blade on the end, and some sort of ranged weapon like a shotgun or assault rifle. There was a blade on top that was the size of a katana but the weapon was held like a cleaver. "the blade can rotate one hundred- eighty degrees." He boasted flicking a switch. The Blade turned over and could also be held like a knife

"What about you Jaune." Rusty asked leaning over to hear his response

"Oh, me? I just use this sword, nothing special." Jaune said hiding his depression as best he could.

"Ah, a weapon is a weapon." Rusty said waving his weapon in the air

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "Oh, what did you name them, I named mine Crescent Rose."

"Well, Ruby, right? I named mine Piana Morska." Teal said with some enthusiasm and a smile alongside it

"Yeah and I named mine." Rusty cleared his throat "Fine Polveroso" He said with a smirk still stuck on his face.

"Polvo-what-so?" Ruby asked having the name fly right over her head.

"Pol-ver-o-so" Rusty sounded out.

"Oh" Ruby said, all three of them turned to Jaune who was holding his sword with a stare.

"I didn't really think of a name for this sword." Jaune admitted

"Well no time like the present." Rusty cheerily said. Jaune thought for a bit about a name for his sword.

"What about, Crocea Mors." Jaune said smiling about the name he gave his weapon. "It is the name of one of my great-great-great grandfather's sword"

"I like it." Ruby smiled

"Well now that introductions are over with, what do you want to do?" Rusty asked.

"Well, I don't know." Ruby said quietly

"Hey what time is it?" Teal asked looking around for a clock or a watch. Rusty looked down at the watch on his wrist and looked at the time. He looked up with a surprised face.

"Wow, it's two thirty already, time flies fast!" Rusty said shocked.

"Well then, have you guys had a good look around the place yet?" Ruby asked.

"Not really, we were going too, but we got kind of sidetracked." Teal said giving a death stare Rusty's way; Rusty gave a chuckle.

"By sidetracked he means we were going too until we got caught up talking to these girls. In fact I think that one of them liked me." Rusty said looking up to the sky. Teal gave Rusty a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Maybe if you didn't make a giant fool of yourself, they would have." Teal said.

"Well this sounds like a good story." Ruby said happily looking at Rusty.

"I will tell it but let's do it on the move so we can also take a look at the campus." Rusty said embarrassed. As Rusty spoke, Teal would fix the parts that he messed up as Jaune and Ruby listened.

* * *

"Okay so she didn't like me hitting on her like that." Rusty said as Teal gave a laugh.

"Your pick up line was if I can remember." Teal put on his best Rusty impression "Hey baby, did you just fall out of heaven, because I've always wanted to bone an angel." This earned a disgusted sound from both Ruby and Jaune.

"Shut up." Rusty said looking as if he wanted to punch Teal in the face. Ruby looked up to check her surroundings.

"Hey where are we?" Ruby asked.

"Looks like the dormitories." Teal analyzed.

"Good observation captain obvious.' Rusty said sarcastically

"Hey, she asked, I answered." Teal said holding his hand in the air. Rusty gave a quiet growl and moved on ahead of the group.

"What's with him?" Jaune asked Teal.

"He is the kind of guy who likes to win, but hates to lose, especially arguments." Teal replied looking at his friend still walking away. The others pursued after Rusty and they went on with their day.

* * *

Yang walked into the ballroom to find that there were sleeping bags on the ground with a thin mattress. She spotted Ruby lying down on her sleeping bag looking at a book. The time was about Nine O'clock at the time so Yang went to go change into her pyjamas. Ruby was still laying there when Yang came out from the bathroom so she decided to scare Ruby. Yang snuck up behind Ruby and flopped down beside her making Ruby jump.

"Yang, don't do that, I almost had a heart attack!" Ruby shouted as more people came into the ballroom.

"So, how was your day?" Yang asked causing Ruby to put her book away

"Pretty good, I think I made two more friends." Ruby said smiling

"That's great sis!" Yang exclaimed happily.

"Well they're really cool guys to be with and I thi-" Ruby started

"Wait, guys?" Yang asked mysteriously

"Yeah, why?" Ruby asked her wide faced sister before she went all gooey on her sister

"My baby sister is growing up!" Yang said happily "First you get over your fear of people and then being around boys, all in one day." She stood up and looked over Ruby. Ruby simply shrugged and took out her journal.

"I'm going to go find a muffin or something. We need to celebrate." Yang said before leaving the room. Ruby took out a pencil and began to write in her journal. About five minutes or so passed and Yang flopped down beside Ruby.

"It's like a big slumber party." Yang said to Ruby who just lay there still writing.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby stated not even looking up at her sister.

"What's that?" Yang asked her.

"Oh nothing, just a letter to the gang back at Signal." Ruby said "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things were going." She finished as she went back to writing.

"Well I couldn't find anything in the cafeteria. But coming back here to find you just lying there is just so cute." Yang said as a pillow was thrown at her face by her sister. Ruby put her journal back into her bag.

"Look it's only been one day, if you met like, what, four people in one day, picture what a year would do." Yang said to Ruby who was holding her corgi pillow tightly.

"What is going to happen this year, Yang, I'm scared to find out." Ruby said with tears in her eyes.

"Hey Ruby come on, you are going to be fine." Yang said while scooting back a bit on her sleeping bag. "Look, you have already met friends, you're going to meet more friends when we form teams, and y-" Yang spoke before Ruby cut her off

"That's the thing, what happens when we form teams. What if I am put on a team with really mean people." Ruby whimpered. Yang gave her little sister a big hug.

"Ruby, you will be fine, who knows maybe we will be on the same team as me." Yang said comforting

"Yeah, tomorrow is going to be awesome isn't it?" Ruby gazed up at the ceiling

"We should get some sleep tonight, long day tomorrow." Yang said.

"Ok Yang, good night." Ruby said before getting inside her sleeping bag

"Good night Rubes." Yang said under the covers

* * *

Ruby awoke and sat up with a big yawn and realize where she was. She wasn't in her bed, she was at Beacon. Ruby lay back on her pillow and put her hands on her head.

"Whoa, I'm actually here." Ruby whispered to herself.

Yang woke up beside her and turned onto her side.

"Morning sis." Yang said with a yawn.

"Good morning." Ruby replied. Yang stood up from the comfort of her sleeping bag and shook Ruby to get her up out of bed.

"Come on Rubes, big day today." Yang said to Ruby as she took off to the washroom.

"Today is the big day."Ruby said to herself before gathering her clothes and heading to the washroom after Yang. The pair walked into the cafeteria where breakfast was being served. The two collected their food and took a seat beside Jaune.

"How are you ladies doing this fine morning?" Jaune asked happily taking a bite of an apple.

"Great." Both Ruby and Yang said at the same time'

"How about you Jaune?" Ruby asked as she took a bite of toast.

"Well, it's been pretty good actually." Jaune stated

"I have a question Jaune." Ruby said

"Okay, what?" Jaune asked looking a Ruby's silver eyes

"Kind of not my business but, who was it that shot you down yesterday?" Ruby asked Jaune as he looked away from her sadly.

"Her name is Weiss." Jaune eventually replied to Ruby's question.

"Oh! Well that explains a lot." Ruby said louder than she meant too

"First of all, not so loud, secondly, how does that explain anything?" Jaune asked slightly annoyed.

"Well I know Weiss a little bit and I know how she can shoot you down, so don't let it get to you." Ruby said to Jaune trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Ruby." Jaune admitted before finishing his breakfast

Yang and Ruby finished their food and the three of them walked out to go get their equipment from lockers that they had been given the previous day. Jaune split up from Yang and Ruby to go get his equipment.

"Well, you seem awfully chipper this morning." Yang observed as she closed her locker.

"Yeah, no more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking" Ruby said hugging Crescent Rose lovingly.

"Just remember Ruby, you aren't the only one going through initiation today, I am proud of you for making friends yesterday." Yang said putting her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Well why would I need friends if I have you?" Ruby asked as she closed her locker. Yang let out a sigh and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Look Ruby, the truth is I don't know if we will be on the same team or not. That is for the teachers to decide, not us." Yang said to the now disappointed Ruby. That's when Glynda Goodwitch's voice was heard over the intercom.

"Would all first year students please attend Beacon cliff for initiation, all first year students please attend Beacon cliff immediately."

"Well, I guess we should get going." Yang stated as Ruby gave her a nod.

They caught up with Jaune who was talking to Weiss and another girl who had bright red hair and green eyes.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Ruby said to the group in front of them.

This caused Weiss and Jaune to both turn to face her.

"Oh, Hey Ruby." Weiss and Jaune said together. Weiss shot Ruby a look

"Wait Ruby, how do you know him?" Weiss said pointing at Jaune with her thumb.

"Um, I sat beside him and struck up a conversation." Ruby said with worry in her voice.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I really think that we should get going to Beacon cliff." The red haired girl said.

Everyone agreed and left to the cliff as a group. The group all introduced themselves to the people who didn't know who they were and talked all the way up to the cliff.

* * *

"Now that the last of you have arrived, everyone stand on a pedestal please." Ozpin said to all the first year students, but the first part was obviously directed to Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss who all had arrived a little late. Ruby zoned out for a bit of the speech that was being given until something struck her interest.

"Now I'm sure that all of you have heard the rumour about teams, well allow me to put those fears to rest. Each of you will be given teammates, today." Glynda Goodwitch said to all the first years. Ruby gave a sigh to the sound of the news.

"It is in your best interest to be paired with someone who you can work well with. That said, the first person that you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin stated to everyone.

This almost caused Ruby to start full-on panicking.

"Now then take your positions." Goodwitch said and everyone got ready to lunge into the air.

People started to get slingshot off the platforms that they were standing on. Everyone was ready but it seemed as though Jaune was simply standing there. Ruby looked to her left where Yang was standing, She gave Ruby a wink before getting shot into the air. Ruby mentally prepared herself as she heard the click of the spring mechanism shoot her into the air. A cry could be heard from behind her but Ruby paid no attention to it, she was to focused on landing safely.

The wind that was rushing past her made Ruby feel light headed. She knew she needed to stay focused on her goal, so that's what she did. while she was calculating the point that she needed to start shooting to slow her down enough, a little bird unfortunately made its way into Ruby's flight path and was taken out in the blink of an eye. Ruby felt sorry for the little bird that she hit but she refocused on her main goal of landing. She shot a few rounds of Crescent Rose to slow her decent of her fall. Ruby unsheathed Crescent rose from her sniper into her scythe. She took the sharp end of the scythe and swung herself off a tree branch. She stopped twirling around the tree branch and jumped off the tree.

"Ok, I need to find Yang." Ruby said to herself.

Ruby started running into the emerald forest to search for a teammate; preferably Yang. While she was running, Ruby went through all the fears in her head about finding a teammate. She was scared that she couldn't find Yang and that someone would get to Yang first. She was so busy in fact that she didn't see the Ursa standing in her way. She ran straight into the back of the beast and fell over onto her butt. Ruby looked up to see the danger that was mere inches from her face. With a loud, deafening roar the beast swung at Ruby. Ruby managed to pull out Crescent Rose in time to block the attack, but the Ursa hit the scythe out of Ruby's hands. Ruby scrambled to try to get back onto her feet. She was hit from behind and sent back to the ground. Ruby looked around for an escape route but couldn't find one.

" _I'm going to die._ " Ruby realised as the Ursa stood up to land a final blow to kill her.

She braced herself for the impact, an impact that never came.

Ruby looked up at the Ursa who was just standing there with a look of pain on its face. The beast fell onto its side to reveal a person wearing black standing behind the fallen monster. There was a weapon in the beast's back with a ribbon attached to it. The girl standing behind her pulled on the ribbon and the mini-scythe came out of the disintegrating beast's back. Ruby got back onto her feet as the girl walked over to her.

"Uh, thanks, I guess I owe you one." Ruby said to the girl who just gave a simple smile. "I didn't catch your name, what was it again?" Ruby asked bluntly.

"Blake, and you are?" She answered

"I'm Ruby. Wait, I remember you, you were the one who gave Weiss her dust vial back." Ruby said smiling.

"Well Ruby, let's get going then, we have a mission to complete." Blake stated as she turned around while Ruby ran to get Crescent Rose then catch up with Blake.

The pair met minimal resistance on their way to the relic sight. There were only a few Beowolves and a single Boarbatusk that they encountered. The pair easily killed off the Grimm and proceeded through the forest. Ruby decided to take point and they approached a clearing in the woods.

"Do you think this is it?" Ruby asked while Blake gave her a simple nod. Blake went down the hill to make sure that the area was clear while Ruby provided sniper cover. The coast proved to be clear and Blake signalled Ruby to come down. The pair examined the relics in front of them, confused at their form.

"Chess pieces?" Blake said sounding a bit shocked at the playfulness of the relics in front of her.

"Now that's not what I was expecting." Ruby stated as she turned to look at Blake. Suddenly yells of terror came from inside the woods.

"Blake, grab an artefact and let's go help those people, because I think that they could use some backup." Ruby said.

Blake turned to grab a chess piece. Once she picked up the relic, Blake equipped Gambol Shroud to meet the incoming danger beside Ruby. Four figures came rushing out of the forest, one girl with purple hair, and three boys, one of those boys being a faunus. The group rushed down the hill and turned around to see a pack of about forty Beowolves, come rushing out of the forest. All six initiates readied their weapons and pointed them at the incoming Grimm. Ruby recognized all of the boys but not the girl.

"Hey Ruby, long time no see." Rusty said flirtatiously

"Not now Rusty." Teal shouted. Ruby, Blake, Teal, Rusty, and the last faunus boy Steel, all turned their weapons into their ranged forms and began unleashing a hailstorm of bullets at the incoming Beowolves.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Another chapter been edited_

 _Ruby: So, um, that was cool..._

 _Blake: Now that it has been_ _**revised.**_

 _Me: What's that supposed to mean?_

 _Blake: Nothing *Rolls eyes*._

 _Rusty: We get to appear more than this, right?_

 _Me: I guess so…_

 _Rusty: Oh fuck yes!_

 _Me: Okay, see you guys in the next one!_


	9. Oh! Hello

_**A.N.:**_ _Okay, this is just a half chapter to explain how the O.C.s got together in the forest and meet up with Ruby and Blake_

 _Steel: Yeah, it's awesome_

 _Rusty: Steel, what are you talking about? The chapter sucks_

 _Me: Hmm, I wonder if I should kill off Rusty in this story?_

 _Rusty: Oh, go fuck yourself_

 _Magenta: Really Rusty?_

 _Me: Who cares, onto the chapter_

* * *

 **Oh! Hello**

* * *

Steel was walking through the Emerald forest trying to find a teammate but was having no luck. Now that he had been walking for about ten minutes and he couldn't find a soul.

"This is getting ridiculous, where is everybody?" He asked out loud. On cue, a girl came running around the rock he was standing by and ran straight into him.

"Ops, sorry, are you okay?" The girl asked him.

"I'm fine." Steel said getting back onto his feet.

"Well I guess that we are teammates now." The girl stated

"I would like to know my teammates name." Steel stated bluntly. The girl gave a slight laugh

"I'm Magenta ,but call me Mag, what's your name." She asked

"Oh, I'm Steel." He said

"Do you know where we are going?" Mag asked him looking around to try to spot their destination.

"Not really, I'm not the person to go to for being stuck in a giant forest." Steel admitted

"Well, We came from that way." Mag said pointing back to Beacon cliff "Logically speaking, the best way to go would be in that direction." She pointed the opposite way of the cliff.

"Good thinking, let's get going." Steel said and the pair started toward their unknown destination.

* * *

The pair walked through the forest until two voices could be heard in the distance. The pair looked at each other and decided to go to the voices. As they approached the voices (both male) they started doubting that they would stop and work with them.

"Okay look, all I'm saying is that I like ranged combat instead of melee." The redheaded boy said.

"Based on your weapon, that would seem understandable" The other boy agreed.

"Hey!" Steel shouted making both of the boys jump.

"Don't do that!" The redhead shouted in his southern accent.

"Sorry about the scare boys." Mag said smugly

"That's alright." The brunette boy said

"Do you guys want to team up?" Steel asked

"Team up with the people who scared me half to death, sure why not." The redhead said laughing out loud.

"Good, we will be able to find our way easier. By the way my name is Steel." He said to the group.

"And my name is Mag." She said with a smile.

"Well I'm Rusty." He said winking at Mag causing her to blush

"I'm Teal. Now that introductions are out of the way, let's go." Teal said going on the way to the temple. The other three shrugged and went on their way.

* * *

The group was still walking through the emerald forest. Rusty kept trying to hit on Mag until she eventually slapped him across the face. Teal and Steel were talking about the future at Beacon but the conversation was stopped by a deep growl behind them. The group of four stopped in their tracks

"What the hell was that?" Rusty said looking around

"I don't know, what do you think Steel." Mag asked the faunus

"It sounded like a Beowolf." Steel stated " We should keep moving, I don't think that they have caught our scent yet." The group agreed and moved as quickly and quietly as possible. About three minutes later a Beowolf made its presence known by jumping in front of the young hunters. Mag jumped but unravelled her weapon Trick Fouet into its flail form. Teal reacted quickly and took Piana Morska in its pistol form and shot at the beast. The beast in front of them fell within four shots from the weapon. Suddenly, three more Beowolfs came running out of the forest alongside an Ursa.

Rusty took this moment to attack. He turned Fine Polveroso into its shotgun mode, and blew one of the Beowolfs heads clean off. Steel equipped Axe Gevar and sliced the other two Beowolfs and cut them in half with one swing. More and more Beowolfs came running out of the forest and it wasn't long before the group realised that they would be overrun. The Ursa had been decapitated by Teal but another two came running out of the forest.

"We need to leave, now!" Steel shouted cutting another Beowolf in half

"Where are we going Teal?" Rusty asked shooting a Beowolf in the neck blowing its head off.

"Follow me!" Teal shouted as he lunged at a Beowolf stabbing it in the chest and leaping off of it. The other three rushed at the smaller group of Beowolfs and pushed through the pack until they were free. The group ran away from the pack as fast as they could but the monster's were close behind them. The group came running out of the forest yelling into a clearing. Steel spotted two girls standing there and the group ran up to them. They turned to see the large pack of Beowolfs running out of the forest. The group readied their weapons in their ranged form and started unloading their ammo into the pack.

Steel turned to see Mag hunched over clutching her stomach. He looked around to see how much time they had. Steel noticed that one of the girls standing there was the girl whose sister he had tripped over the previous night.

"Mag, are you okay?" Steel asked. Mag responded by shaking her head and raised her hand to reveal a large cut on her stomach.

"What's going on Steel?" Teal asked

"Keep us covered." Steel shouted making Teal turn and continue shooting. Steel sat on his knees and closed his eyes beside Mag who was still clutching her stomach. Steel's aura began to flare and he put a hand on Mag's shoulder. Mag opened her eyes to see Steel kneeled down beside her. Suddenly the pain in her stomach was gone and Steels aura stopped flaring. Mag looked down to see that there was no longer a cut.

"Um, Steel?" Mag started.

"I will explain later, we need to fend off these Grimm." Steel said as he stood up taking out his weapon. The Grimm pack was fading out at last. Ruby took her scythe and sprinted at the Beowolfs. In a spiral of strikes and slashes all of the remaining Beowolfs were cut down in a matter of seconds.

"You couldn't have done that sooner." Rusty asked clearly annoyed sheathing his weapon. Ruby walked up to him and put a finger on his chest.

"Look Rusty, that was really hard to do and it took a lot out of me okay." Steel had never seen Ruby mad at anyone before and was shocked at the remark.

"Well then, that could have been worse." The other girl said

"Hello Blake, how have you been?" Mag asked like she was meeting an old friend.

"I'm alright." Blake said completely killing the conversation between the two.

"Okay, I'm Steel, that's Ruby, Mag, Rusty, Teal, and Blake." He said pointing to each person as he said their name.

"And I'm Yang!" A voice called out from behind the group causing them all to turn to see the blonde brawler walking toward them.

"Yang wait up." Another voice said behind them.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled running up to her sister giving her a big hug.

"Hey sis, do I even want to know why there are thirty dead disintegrating wolf corpses lying on the ground?" Yang asked giving her sister a look.

"Who cares, let's just get an artefact and go home, we can catch up later." Weiss cut in.

"Good idea." Steel agreed as the three groups walked up to the temple and grabbed an artefact.

" Alright let's get going" Ruby said turning round to face a death stalker staring right at her. This caused Ruby to jump backward. Ruby turned Crescent Rose into its sniper form and unloaded three shots into the death stalker. The rounds caused little to no damage and the death stalker hit Ruby backward down the hill. Yang helped Ruby up and the other six people readied their weapons.

"Let's go!" Steel shouted running at the giant scorpion with Axe Gevar followed by the other initiates close behind him.

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Please don't hate me._

 _Rusty: Everyone hates you_

 _Ruby: I don't hate him_

 _Yang: Well, I can tolerate him_

 _Me: See Rusty, being an ass doesn't always pay off_

 _Rusty: Fine, I'll be a bit nicer *Whispers* Asshole_


	10. Can We Have One Normal Day

_**A.N.:**_ _I'm so hyped for RWBY volume 3 that starts on October 24th._

 _Ruby: What about team RWBY_

 _Me: It's a web series here_

 _Weiss: What is that like?_

 _Me: I'll have to explain it to you sometime_

 _Rusty: *from afar* That won't be awkward at all!_

 _Me *Sigh* Why did I bring him into this world_

* * *

 **Can We Have One Normal Day**

* * *

"Let's go!" Steel shouted running at the giant scorpion with Axe Gevar followed by the other initiates close behind him.

Ruby and Yang were trailing behind a bit. Teal slashed at the Deathstalker's claw while Rusty shot the same claw with his shotgun. Mag and Blake were attacking the scorpion head on while Steel and Weiss tried attacking the other claw. Ruby and Yang caught up and started attacking the legs of the Deathstalker. Yang unleashed a barrage of shots from Ember Celica while Ruby started slashing the legs. Weiss and Steel managed to cut the claw that they were going after off. The Deathstalker used its other claw to knock Teal and Rusty back and tried picking up Steel with its pincer.

"Steel, look out!" Mag shouted using her flail to stun the Deathstalker in hopes to knock the beast off guard and buy Steel a few more seconds. Her plan worked, fortunately the flail jabbed one of the Deathstalkers eyes causing it to cry out in pain and forget about attacking Steel long enough for him to get out of the way from the pincer

"Yang, see what you can do to help out on that other pincer." Ruby shouted.

Yang jumped into the air with a shot from her gauntlets and onto the pincer. She started pounding the joint that the last claw was attached to and loosened it enough to cut through. Teal saw this and jumped into the air, Weiss cast a glyph behind him to propel him forward and he cut straight through the joint. Blake had been shooting at the stinger on the tail. Blake took Gambol Shroud and turned it into its chain scythe form. Blake hopped onto the Deathstalker's back and cut the end of the stinger off causing it to fall on the scorpion's head.

"Weiss, I need you to cast a glyph at my feet when I'm in the air. Point me at that stinger." Yang shouted as the heiress gave a nod.

Yang jumped into the air again in a similar fashion as before. On Yang's decent Weiss cast a glyph that Yang sprang off of. She punched the Deathstalker's stinger straight through its armour plating and drove it straight through the beast's brain. Yang hopped off of the dead body and gave out a sigh.

"What's the matter?" Steel asked caringly.

"Oh, nothing, I just expected more of a fight." Yang stated not wanting to kill the good mood.

"We still need to get back to Beacon." Ruby pointed out.

"Right, let's go." Steel said and all of the initiates took off in the direction of Beacon.

* * *

"The four of you will be known as team Jester." Ozpin said as the four students on stage smiled and walked off.

Steel was nervous, he was about to be given teammates that would be with him for the next four years. He already knew about Mag, but the other two were a complete mystery.

"Steel Storm, Teal Su, Rusty Stof, and Magenta Jasny." Professor Ozpin started but Steel blanked out for a second, "From this point on the four of you will be known as team STRM. Lead by...Steel Storm." The old man nodded his head in acceptance and another group took the stage after them.

Ruby shook hands with Steel as he walked off stage.

"Congrats on being team leader." The cookie loving girl beamed at him

"Thanks Ruby, I don't think I could ask for a better team than this one." Steel said ending the handshake with Ruby.

"I know how it could have been better." Mag said gesturing over to Rusty.

"You'll get used to him." Steel said as the group that took their place was now walking off stage. Ruby looked up to see that Jaune was heading up to the stage along with three others.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team JNPR. Led by...Jaune Arc."

After some shock by Jaune, the four of them nodded and walked off stage. Ruby heard her name being called.

"Wish me luck." Ruby said and walked toward the stage. Blake was behind her knowing that they would be on the same team together. Ruby was up on stage now and looked to her side to see Weiss standing there. She looked up at Ozpin who addressed them.

"Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, and Yang Xiao Long." Ruby's heart skipped a beat when she heard her sister's name. She kept her cool and let Ozpin finish what he was saying.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward the four of you will work together as team RWBY. Lead by...Ruby Rose." Ruby almost started hyperventilating at the sound of her being a team leader.

She suddenly felt a tight squeeze from someone. Ruby opened her eyes to see Yang standing in front of her giving her a bear hug. Yang let Ruby go to not suffocate her and the four of them walked off stage.

"Looks like I am not the only one who deserves the gratitude of being a team leader." Steel said smiling holding out his hand. Ruby obliged as he did and shook his hand again firmly.

"Now then, I'm sure everyone is hungry from their first full day. Dinner is now being served in the cafeteria." Ozpin said walking off stage.

"I'm hungry, let's go get some grub." Rusty said as everyone just looked at him. "What?" he questioned.

"Screw it, I'm in" Yang said and took off toward the cafeteria.

"Yang wait up." Ruby shouted, but her sister was already long gone. Ruby dashed after her. Team STRM and the rest of her team followed trailing behind slightly.

* * *

 **Everyone was eating together in the cafeteria. Team JNPR had joined teams STRM and RWBY at the table as they talked about their past and how they got to the place they were today. Jaune seemed quiet during this time but no one really questioned it. It was getting late so the teams decided that it was time to retire to their dorms.**

"Hey Ruby, where are the dorms?" Yang asked her.

Ruby was happy that she actually had a chance to explore the campus the day before.

"It should be around this corner." Ruby stated hopefully.

The team of four rounded the corner and sure enough, the dormitories building was right there. The team walked inside and went to go find their dorm room. After about only five minutes of searching, they found their dorm room and walked inside. The room was fairly big for four people.

"Well, this is cozy." Weiss stated.

Blake dropped her bag beside one of the desks and sat down on one of the beds; Yang did the same. Weiss put her duffle bag on the bed that she chose and left to go to the washroom. Ruby sat down on the one unclaimed bed and left her bag beside it. She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes briefly. She opened her eyes when Weiss walked back into the room.

"So, what now?" Ruby asked hoping for suggestions.

"Personally, I think that we should get some sleep." Weiss stated kneeling down by her bag. She pulled out a night gown.

"Good idea Weiss." Yang said giving off a yawn. Blake nodded her head and took a pair of pyjamas out of her bag. Ruby nodded in defeat and reached for her bag as Weiss walked out of the room to go change. Blake stood up to go change too. Yang started to change in the room. Ruby didn't find this weird, the sisters had to share a room in Patch and would often change while the other was in the room. To keep their privacy, they wouldn't look at each other. Ruby began to change too, she pulled her top off and took out her pyjama top. She slipped the tank top on and slipped her skirt off and pulled her pyjama bottoms on. he did this as Weiss walked back into the room just after she pulled her bottoms on.

"Jeez Weiss, you changed fast." Yang said as she pulled her hair across her shoulder in order to take a pin out.

"Well, I have had lots of practice." Weiss said successfully dropping the conversation and sitting down on her bed. Blake walked into the room silently and put her cloths away.

"Good night you guys." Yang said as she lay back on her pillow.

"Night." Blake said tucking herself in

"Good night" Weiss said turning off the lights. She walked over to her bed and sat down.

"Have a good rest everyone" Ruby said giving off an exhausted yawn.

* * *

Ruby woke up at the crack of dawn to find Blake reading in her bed.

"Hey Blake, how are you this morning?" Ruby asked softly.

"I'm alright how about you?" Blake smiled marking and closing her new book.

"Good. yeah I'm good." Ruby flustered; Blake smiled at her teammate.

Blake turned to the bed behind her to see Yang start to wake up.

"Good morning Yang." Ruby smiled at her groggy sister.

"Hey Ruby." She said getting out of bed.

Ruby had shaken off the effects of sleep and checked around the room for some source of quiet entertainment.

"Should we decorate the room?" Ruby asked trying to strike up a conversation with one of her teammates.

"We should probably wait for Weiss to wake up first." Blake pointed out. Ruby had nearly forgotten about the heiress that was still in a peaceful slumber.

"What time is it?" Yang asked lying back down on her bed.

"It's about six thirty." Blake said standing up to go put her book away. Weiss was starting to stir in her bed indicating that she was about to wake up.

"Well, I don't think we will have to wait much longer for her." Yang said gesturing toward the heiress.

Weiss raised her arms over her face and made a big stretch to wake herself up.

"Good morning Ruby." Weiss said after giving off a yawn.

"'Morning~." Ruby sang happily.

"So what's the plan, team leader." Weiss mocked her.

Ruby wasn't fazed by the comment at all.

"Well now that you're awake we can get started on our first order of business." Ruby said hopping out of bed to go get her bag.

"And that is?" Weiss questioned.

"Decorating." Yang stated pulling out a poster from her bag.

"Alright." Weiss said walking over to her bag. "But please let me get ready for the day first." she added.

"Okay, we will all get changed into our school stuff and then come back here and get started." Ruby said looking at each of her teammates. The team agreed and all set off to go get changed into their school uniforms. After about five minutes the entire team was back into the room. Yang pulled out a poster and looked for an area to hang it.

"Just saying, we should probably get all the furniture set up first." Blake stated looking at the space that they had to work with.

"Okay" Ruby said agreeing with her teammate. The team had moved the desks into the two corners and the beds on the other two. They started arranging the room but the one thing they couldn't get to fit were the beds.

"This isn't working" Weiss stated crossing her arms.

"It is a bit cramped." Blake said in agreement.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff." Yang suggested

"We could do that." Ruby started; her eyes widened because of an idea that she had thought of. "Or, we could ditch the beds, and replace them with cool bunk beds!" Ruby exclaimed happily.

"Um, that seems incredibly dangerous." Weiss said in a concerned tone.

"And super awesome!" Yang agreed happily.

"I does seem efficient." Blake stated.

"I guess, but how are we going to do it?" Weiss asked trying to turn her teammates away from the idea coyly.

"I have an idea or two" Blake said pulling out some rope from her bag

"Where did you even get that?" Ruby asked in partial disbelief

"Brought it for emergencies." Blake said smiling to her partner.

"What kind of emergencies?" Weiss asked with an eyebrow raised

"Doesn't matter, let's do this." Blake said immediately killing the conversation. They had managed to suspend a bed over another bed in a few short minutes. The only problem now was the other bed; Blake came up with another solution though. Taking a good chunk of her books from her bag and a few from the other teammates bags, they managed to place the bed on top of the books that were on the posts of the bed underneath. The four students walked back to look at their creation.

"I swear to god that if that bed falls on me in the night, I will kill you guys." Weiss threatened in a deeper voice while pointing a finger at the three of them mincingly.

"Whelp, I guess that it's breakfast time now, let's head to the cafeteria and eat." The blonde brawler said raising a fist in the air to show her excitement.

"I'm in." Ruby stated

"Me too." Weiss agreed in a lowly manner.

"Let's go." Blake said. With that the members from team RWBY rushed out of the dorm room.

Unfortunately, it appeared that team JNPR had the exact same idea at the exact same time. The two teams went rushing into the hallway right into one another and landed with a big crash.

"What happened?" Ruby said trying to shake off the impact. Ruby stood up from the impact and helped her partner up. Yang helped Weiss up onto her feet as well. With both teams back on their feet they proceeded to the cafeteria where team STRM was waiting for them.

"Well, if it isn't team RWBY and team JNPR, how are you guys doing." The faunus asked happily eating an apple.

"Aside from a bump on the head from this morning, everything's fine." Ruby said sitting down.

"What happened?" Mag asked with a smile.

"We'll go get food first, then we will tell you guys the story." Blake said tapping ruby on the shoulder indicating her to go.

"Good idea Blake." Ruby agreed standing up. JNPR and RWBY went up to the counter to go get breakfast. Once they received their food, they made their way back to the table. The two teams sat down and started eating.

"So, what happened?" Rusty said holding back a smile; failing badly too. Ruby and Jaune did most of the talking for their teams. Blake and Ren cleared up some of the things that they said when the two messed up, but the two kept on track relatively. Rusty was basically laughing his ass of while there were chuckles from everyone else.

"How the heck did you guys run out of your dorm rooms at the exact same time?" Steel asked setting down his piece of toast.

"I don't know." Squealed Jaune slightly which earned a snicker from Nora who was sitting across to him.

"What time is it?" Weiss asked as she trimmed her nails.

"I think it's time to go to class because we need to be there in about seven minutes." Ren stated. All three teams looked at each other and ran to put their trays away. They sprinted out of the cafeteria. With time ticking, they kept running for the classrooms.

"What do we have?" Blake asked barely breaking a sweat as they ran into the schooling building.

"Um, um, oh, Grimm studies." Ruby stuttered.

The teams all ran into the classroom with only 10 seconds left on the clock.

"You're lucky we aren't late, Ruby." Weiss sneered as they sat down.

"Hello, and welcome to Grimm studies. My name is professor Port." The large professor stated, then cleared his throat. "Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I simply refer to them as prey!" He said with enthusiasm.

"Now then, who can tell me what the main, or basic creatures of Grimm are?" The professor asked looking around for hands. A few were raised including from Weiss and Blake. He pointed at Blake.

"Yes, Ms...?" He questioned

"Belladonna, sir." She answered.

"Alright Ms. Belladonna, what is the answer? The professor asked with some enthusiasm

"The main or original Grimm were discovered as follows; Beowolf, Ursa, Boarbatusk, Deathstalker, and Nevermore. Some also argue that the King Taijitu is one of the originals as well." Blake answered

"Well done, Ms. Belladonna." Port congratulated "And this is where we come in. Huntsmen, huntresses." He said giving a wink that seemed to be directed to Yang. "It is us against them."

"Sir, I'm sure many of us already know this." Weiss stated gaining the favour of most of the class.

"I take it that you are Ms. Schnee, am I correct?" The professor asked raising an eyebrow: Weiss gave a nod indicating that he was correct. "Well then, shall we see how much you really know in a combat scenario?" The professor asked pointing out a cage in the corner of the room.

"Alright, I accept." Weiss said bluntly and stood up to take the floor. She readied Myrtenaster and signalled Port that she was ready.

"Your goal is to kill the creature." Port stated. "Let the match begin!"

Port took his Blunderbuss out and cut the lock on the cage. The Boarbatusk inside gave a low snort and charged at Weiss. Weiss jumped to the side and slashed at the creature. The attack from Myrtenaster seemed to simply bounce off of the beast. The boar turned to charge Weiss again. Weiss readied herself and tried the same attack as last time but it still had no effect.

"Weiss, go for the belly. There's no armour underneath!" Ruby shouted.

This caused Weiss to become unfocused and the Boarbatusk charged. It rammed Weiss in the stomach obviously knocking the wind out of her. Weiss slowly got up and noticed the boar charging again. She cast a glyph in front of her to block the attack. The plan worked all too well. The Boarbatusk ran straight into the glyph and bounced off of it onto it's back. Weiss used this advantage and cast another glyph behind her. She jumped onto and off of the glyph and skewered the Boarbatusk in the belly. Weiss looked at her kill and stood up.

"Well done Ms. Schnee." Port said giving her a pat on the shoulder

"Thank you sir." She said clutching her stomach where the boar had hit her.

She walked back to her desk and let the professor carry on with his lesson. Some time and passed but the spot where the Boarbatusk hit Weiss was still stinging.

"Weiss, are you okay." Blake asked quietly noticing the heiress' pain.

"I'll be fine, Blake." Weiss stated quiet enough so that the professor didn't hear their conversation.

As the class carried on, the pain in Weiss's stomach only got worse.

"Alright that's all we have time for today. I would like to thank Ms. Schnee for the combat demonstration today." The professor said and ended the class. When Weiss tried to get up, the pain stung like a bee. The pain overwhelmed her and caused her to fall over.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked concerned for her teammate.

"I'm fine." Weiss stated denying the actual pain she was experiencing

"let me take a look." Steel suggested.

"Fine" Weiss sneered at the faunus boy.

Steel touched her shoulder and searched her body for any pain she would be experiencing. When he found her problem, Steel flared his aura letting his semblance work on her.

"There, better?" Steel asked calmly as Weiss tried standing up again.

"Yeah, better." Weiss confirmed as she got back up on her feet.

"Good, that poison the Boarbatusk gave you was hard to cleanse." Steel said between breaths.

He had tired himself out due to over usage of his aura. The three teams continued walking toward their next class quietly. That was until Rusty broke the silence.

"Oh my god, can we talk about something, the quiet is killing me!" He exclaimed giving off an annoyed expression.

"Uh, okay." Steel agreed not knowing how to strike up the conversation.

"So what makes you guys special?" Ruby asked bluntly

"Do you mean what's our semblances?" Mag asked

"Yeah!" Ruby said excitedly " My semblance is speed."

"Well, you've already seen mine. I can heal myself or other people's physical injuries. It also allows me to cure most poisons." Steel said proudly looking at Weiss.

"I can teleport short distances." Mag said quietly trying to avoid the conversation.

"That's awesome!" Ruby said happily

"That's overpowered." Rusty exaggerated

"Not really, if I teleport to far or too often, it can knock me out." Mag explained

"Okay, less overpowered." Rusty agreed.

Mag rolled her eyes at him and then allowed the conversation to continue.

"What about you Teal?" Steel asked his teammate.

"I can see people's auras, I can also see creatures without an aura." Teal said moving on with the conversation.

"Does it work through walls." Blake asked curiously

"Yeah, it comes in handy if we need a quick getaway." Teal replied

"Well I can create a small energy shield" Rusty said holding himself with high praise.

"Why didn't you use it in the forest when we were being attacked?" Steel asked. The question caught Rusty off guard

"It is hard to make, and even harder to keep up once I do make it." Rusty answered.

With that, the bell rang signalling the start of their next class. The two teams took off to the next room where Glynda Goodwitch was standing.

"Welcome to combat class." She said addressing all the students who were in the room.

"This ought to be fun." Rusty whispered to Ruby.

Ruby smiled and continued to listen to the presentation

"Now then, why don't we have a sparring round." She said catching everyone in the class off guard. Goodwitch pulled out a tablet and looked on a list for the people attending the class.

"Let's see here, Ms. Ryder Pennyworth from team JSTR and Ms. Magenta Jasny from team STRM." she stated.

A girl stood up and walked down to the combat floor. Mag did the same and stood opposite from the girl. She had black hair with silver streaks in it, and was holding two machete designed weapons. She had green eyes a bit darker than Pyrrha's. The girl readied her two machetes and went into her combat stance. Mag equipped Trick Fouet in its katana form and went into her combat stance, The two girls waited for Goodwitch to give the word to attack. Goodwitch gave the word and the other girl rushed Mag with everyone watching.

* * *

 _ **A:N:**_ _There you have it, chapter nine. I would like to thank the YouTuber JAC OneManBand for letting me use team JSTR (Jester) in my fan fiction. Go check him out if you haven't already done so and check him out. He does a ton of RWBY things such as breakdowns and in-depth looks into the RWBY universe, as well as a bunch of other things that I'm sure you guys will love. Before I go, I would just like to let you guys know that I have drawn up the weapons and I will post them shortly. That is enough of my rambling, I hope to see you guys and many more in the next one._

 _Yang: Can I go to sleep now? So many boring words_

 _Me: Hey! I'm doing my best here._

 _Steel: Well, your best is the best you can do._

 _Rusty: Get a beta reader_

 _Me: I have one, thank you rwbyfan5._

 _Mag: That backfired didn't it_

 _Rusty: Pft_

 _Me: Man, we have so much work to do._


	11. Long Day Again

_**A.N.:**_ _I just want to thank JAC OneManBand again for allowing me to use team JSTR in my story. You guys should really check him out on YouTube if you haven't already. There is a link in my bio._

 _Ruby: Is your writing getting better?_

 _Yang: Psh, don't be ridiculous Ruby. It's obviously just his beta reader fixing things to make them better._

 _me: Well, that's half true. The other part is me._

 _Yang: I'd say quarter of that is true._

 _Me: Okay, my friends helped me too but-_

 _Blake: Can we get on with the chapter please, I want to read._

 _Me: Good idea Blake, Onto the chapter._

* * *

 **Long Day...Again**

* * *

Mag witnessed Ryder running straight at her with her machete and swing at neck height. To everyone watching, Mag simply vanished and Ryder hit nothing but air. While Ryder was distracted, Mag appeared behind her and hit Ryder with a hard swing from her katana, Trick Fouet. It was a lot like Blake's weapon, only it's blade broke in multiple spots allowing for a whip-like feature. There was a gun barrel just above the handle, allowing for dust rounds to be shot out.

Ryder looked back and retaliated quickly by slashing at Mag and hitting her across the chest. Mag quickly glanced up at the board to see the aura stats. To Mag's surprise, Ryder had taken almost no damage from her attack. Mag needed to hit Ryder quickly and often.

Figuring out a strategy she witnessed Ryder coming at her again. She blocked Ryder's attack; Mag countered from the attack by turning Trick Fouet into its flail form when her attack landed. The blade wrapped around Ryder's machete and hit her in the face. While Ryder was distracted by her attack, Mag realised that her flail was still wrapped around Ryder's machete. With a hard pull, Mag ripped one of Ryder's machete's out of her hand and sent it far behind her.

Ryder recovered from the attack and swung her other machete. Mag barely blocked the attack by turning Trick Fouet back into its katana form. The two clashed in an epic sword duel but no attacks were landed. Mag switched things up a bit and switched Trick Fouet into its pistol mode. She shot about three shots that were all blocked by Ryder. Ryder ran straight at Mag, Mag simply rolled out of the way and turned to look at Ryder dive to pick up her other machete. Ryder dove and picked it up, got back onto her feet, turned to face Mag, all in one motion.

Mag looked up at the board to see the aura stats. Mag had only taken one hit and Ryder had taken several, the odd thing was that Ryder had more aura in reserve than she did. Mag was puzzled by this and looked back at Ryder with question written all over her face. Ryder took out some sort of revolver looking weapon and threw her machete's into the air. Ryder released two shot simultaneously and jumped up into the air. Mag only saw one of the shot coming and was only able to block the first one. The bullet must have had a burn dust infused with it because on impact they exploded. Mag was stunned from the previous attack and looked up to try to find Ryder, but to no avail.

Ryder landed behind Mag and slashed her in the back. Mag's aura was almost gone and she knew it. Ryder had obviously had enough of this fight. She took her revolver and two machete's and turned them into a double barrelled shotgun. She unleashed two shots at a time and reloaded her weapon just as fast as she shot the bullets. Mag knew that she was beaten already.

"I forfeit." She said, throwing Trick Fouet to the ground.

This earned a smile from Ryder.

"Very well, the winner of the first match of the year is Ryder Pennyworth." Goodwitch stated. Mag walked up to Ryder who was putting her weapons away.

"Hey, good match Ryder." Mag said extending a hand. Ryder smiled and accepted it giving a good shake.

"It was fun, I hope we can do it again sometime." She said as she turned to walk away.

Mag gave a smile and teleported up to where her teammates were sitting.

"Good try." Steel said trying to comfort Mag.

"I did my best, and that's the best I can do." Mag replied with a smile.

"That! Was! Awesome!" Ruby shouted, pumping her fists excitedly.

"Jeez Ruby, calm down." Rusty said sounding shocked.

Glynda had now hushed all the students in the room and began to speak again. She gave a speech about the pros and cons about Ryder's and Mag's match. They students listened and in a few short moments, the bell rang to tell them that it was lunch time. The three teams went into the cafeteria and received some food, they then went to go sit down at a table.

The teams talked while they ate, they mostly kept within their own teams but Mag and Blake were having an interesting conversation.

"Look Blake, she was way stronger than I was today, alright." Mag said right before taking a sip of orange juice.

"I know that, but that isn't the reason that you forfeited is it?" Blake said trying to get Mag to admit to something, but Blake didn't quite know yet.

Mag put her orange juice down.

"I need to tell you something." Mag started as she stood up. "We will be right back." She said and walked out of the cafeteria with Blake close behind. Once they were outside Blake poked at the question again bluntly.

"So what's up?" She asked crossing her arms.

"I think I knew that girl that I was fighting and why I wouldn't be able to beat her." Mag started, she then took a deep breath and continued. "I need you to keep a secret okay, I'm a...a-a faunus" She whispered in Blake's ear. This immediately caught Blake's attention. "I have a deer tail." Mag said turning beet red.

"Really?" Blake replied.

"Well this is quite a story and it all ties together." Mag sat down beside the wall and Blake did the same. "When I went to school before Beacon, I was obviously picked on because I was a faunus."

" _I know how that feels."_ Blake thought to herself.

"I had an older brother, but he disappeared one day and nobody knows what happened to him. I was so young when he left that I don't even remember his name. Anyway, I originally went to a school in Mistral. I was there for about five years, training to become a huntress. There was a group of people there who were really racist toward faunus. One day I was walking home from school and they decided that they were going to up their game by beating up faunus. I was caught in the middle of all that. They chased me into the swamps and I couldn't outrun them. That's when a girl rushed in." Mag had tears in her eyes now, but continued on with her story. "The girl took on seven boys her age, all of them training to be huntsmen. She took them all on with little to no trouble. She is the only other one who knows about me being a faunus. I owe her a great amount and I don't know if I will ever be able to repay her." Mag sighed and let what she had said process for Blake.

"You may not know it, but I know exactly how you feel." Blake said putting a hand on Mag's shoulder. The faunus looked up at Blake with a questioning look. Blake pointed to her bow and waited for Mag to look. When she did Blake made her cat ears twitch which caught Mag by surprise.

"You're a faunus too?" Mag said sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I didn't exactly have the best childhood either. When I was a young girl, I was integrated into the ranks of the White Fang." Blake started but was cut off by Mag.

"Wait, wait, wait. You were a part of the White Fang?" Mag asked feeling a slight hostility toward her friend.

"Yes, but back then, things were different. We were peaceful protesters striving to achieve equal rights for the faunus. Five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. Let's just say that the two leaders had different ways of thinking. Our protests were being turned into organized attacks, especially on companies who were using faunus labour." Blake paused for a moment to recollect her thoughts "I had a partner, and we had a code in the White Fang. We wouldn't kill innocent people. On our last assignment, He decided to break that code. That was the last straw for me. So I left." Blake said, not even shedding a tear.

Mag looked out to the horizon.

"So, does anyone else know about this?" Mag asked.

"No, and I hope to keep It a secret as long as possible. But this doesn't explain why you forfeited your match." Blake said bringing the topic back up.

"Ryder was born with an abnormal amount of aura reserve. I know that with my attacks alone, I wouldn't have been able to beat her in the first place. I don't know if anyone could beat her." Mag admitted. The bell rang indicating that classes were starting soon.

"Let's go." Blake said and they took off toward their next class of the day

* * *

The three teams were finally out of classes and were all conversing amongst themselves. Blake and Mag hadn't spoken about their heritage at all since lunch and agreed to not talk about it unless absolutely necessary. It was about seven o'clock at the time and their days weren't going to get any shorter. The teams decided to head on home and retire for the night. The teams got back in their respective rooms and decided to go to bed. Blake was lying down and thinking about the conversation she had with Mag.

"Hey, Blake, are you alright?" Ruby asked concerned about her teammate. It took about five seconds for Blake to process what Ruby had said.

"Sorry, what did you say, I was kind of zoned out." Blake replied.

"I asked if you were alright." Ruby repeated herself.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." Blake said as she fumbled around with her words.

"Blake, what's up. You seem off" Ruby said pressing for an answer.

"Nothing Ruby, I'm fine." Blake said trying to wave her off

"You know that you can tell me if anything is wrong right?" Ruby said trying to comfort her.

"Okay Ruby, if something's wrong, I will let you know." Blake said keeping her thoughts to herself. Ruby went back to her bunk and left Blake to her thoughts. Blake had reminded herself of Adam and the White Fang when she had spoken with Mag. She decided to try to let thoughts go again and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

Blake woke up the next morning and acted like everything was fine. The thought of Adam and her old comrades kept haunting her thoughts. Blake had time in prison before arriving at Beacon to forget about the White Fang and tuck the thoughts in the back of her mind. Blake had woken up before everyone else again. She decided to take a walk outside to take her mind off of all of her thoughts. Blake stood up and snuck out of the room hoping that nobody heard her. She grabbed her combat attire and went out of the room to go change in the washroom.

She quickly changed and left the washroom as quickly and quietly as possible. She went into the main courtyard and sat down on the statue base. She was looking up at the sky until she heard someone come up behind her. She turned to see the familiar face of Ozpin standing behind her.

"Good morning, Ms Belladonna. Up a bit early, aren't we?" Ozpin said taking a sip of coffee

"Yeah, I guess so." Blake agreed.

''indeed, but I feel like something is troubling you. Would I be correct?" Ozpin asked sitting down next to Blake.

She decide to try to open up to Ozpin a bit.

"I've just been thinking about my time in the White Fang recently." Blake admitted

"Did you have many friends in the White Fang?" Ozpin asked prolonging the conversation. The question caught Blake off guard but she quickly retaliated

"Oh, yeah. One friend in particular. I don't like talking about him though." Blake sighed.

"I see, well it is obvious why you are thinking about this topic so much." Ozpin said giving a smile. Blake shot the man a look knowing exactly what he meant by his words. Ozpin stood up.

"Blake, if there is ever something that you need to talk about, please don't hesitate to contact me." He said before leaving the secret faunus to meddle with her thoughts. Blake saw that he was trying to help her but she didn't want to sell him out to the authorities or anything. Blake looked back up at the sky and tried to get rid of the thoughts in her head. Blake noticed a ship arriving at Beacon's landing deck. She investigated to find out what was inside.

"Blake?" A person asked behind her. She turned to see the friendly face of Teal standing behind her.

"Hello, Teal." Blake said not taking her eyes off of the bullhead. The airship landed and opened the cargo doors. Inside the cart were multiple crates with people pushing them on carts.

"Looks like the supplies have arrived." Teal observed.

"Why are they here so early, they aren't due to arrive for another hour."Blake said not trusting the cargo.

"They are probably just ahead of schedule." Teal said. "Speaking of which, why are you up so early?" He asked giving his head a tilt.

"I could ask the same of you." Blake said looking back at her friend.

"Couldn't sleep." Teal said taking a seat beside her.

"Two reasons, I like to wake up early, and I've got some thoughts on my mind that I'm trying to get out of my head." Blake told him. Teal gave a nod understanding that she didn't want to talk about it.

"I know by the way." Teal said in a serious tone. Blake shot him a concerned look that she disguised as confusion.

"Know what?" Blake asked not giving any leeway.

"About you and Mag being faunus." Before Blake could object, he raised his hand to silence her. "Before you say anything, my semblance told me, due to the fact that both you and Mag are hiding that fact, you don't want anyone to know about it." Teal put a hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Can you keep it a secret?" Blake asked concerned.

"Of course. Unless you say otherwise, I won't tell a soul." Teal said honestly .

"I trust you." Blake said looking back up to the sky.

"Well, that's a good thing." Teal said standing up. "It's almost time for breakfast, do you want to to get something to eat so we can beat the line?" Teal asked standing up and offering her his hand.

"Sure, why not." Blake said taking his hand. Teal pulled her onto her feet and the two walked over to the cafeteria.

* * *

Ruby awoke with a yawn. She took a quick glance around the room to look at her teammates. She quickly noticed that Blake was missing. Ruby decided that she couldn't have gone anywhere and stepped down off of the bed. She opened her bag and took out her combat cloths.

"Blake is fine." Ruby kept telling herself. Ruby walked into the washroom and walked into a changing stall. She quickly changed and walked back to the dorm. She walked into the dorm to a tired Yang standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey, Ruby. Where is Blake?" Yang asked groggily.

"I don't know where she is." Ruby admitted hopping back up onto her bed.

"She probably just went out for a walk." Yang suggested.

"Well based on the time, she probably is in the cafeteria." Ruby decided looking at the clock.

"Well, wake up ice queen, then let's go." Yang said going out of the room to change. Ruby hopped down off of her bunk and shook Weiss awake.

"What-... what are you doing?" Weiss asked as she woke up.

"It's time to get up Weiss." Ruby said letting the heiress get out of bed. Weiss looked at the clock to decide if it was actually time to get up.

"Alright." Weiss agreed standing up to go over to her bag.

"If you see Yang tell her I will be in the cafeteria," Ruby said running out of the room.

Weiss shook her head and left the room to go change.

* * *

Blake and Teal walked into the cafeteria. It was odd to walk into a room with less than ten people in it. Blake shrugged off the feeling and followed Teal to the counter. They grabbed toast, eggs and bacon that was there and went to a table to sit down. They ate in silence until Blake's team leader walked into the room.

"Hey Blake." Ruby said as she passed by to go get some of the food that was there. Blake continued to eat until Ruby sat down next to her.

"When did you get up?" Blake asked

"not that long ago." Ruby said taking a bite of her toast.

"Excited for today, we get to do combat classes."Teal said with a smile.

Oh yeah, I've heard rumours that we get to do team battles too!" Ruby said excitedly

"That would be fun." Blake said trying to sound excited. She turned to see Weiss and Yang walk into the room. They sat down next to Ruby and joined the conversation. Over the course of a few minutes, the entire cafeteria was packed. Team JNPR and the rest of team STRM had joined them. Blake and Mag avoided eye contact with each other through the whole meal. After everyone was done eating, they continued to the combat room as a group. They were the first to arrive so they sat down and awaited the rest of the students to flood into the bleachers. After all was said and done, Glynda Goodwitch greeted all of the students in the room.

"Welcome to today's combat class. Through all of today, we will have both individual matches and team matches. If anyone would like to go first, please step forward. All of the students began talking amongst each other to decide if they wanted to go first.

"Let's do this!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Yeah." Yang agreed. Blake gave a nod in agreement as did Weiss.

"We will go first." Ruby said standing up. at the same time, a strong looking boy stood up at the same time saying the same thing.

"It looks like we have a match." Goodwitch said allowing the two teams to come down to the combat floor.

Ruby observed the competition in front of her and devised a plan to beat them.

"Okay, Yang, try to take out their leader. Blake, try to distract them and I will cover you with my sniper. Weiss try to cover my six." Ruby said earning different expressions from her teammates.

"Let's do it." Blake said in agreement. The other two teammates nodded in agreement and broke their huddle. They waited for the other team to finish their plan. Once they did, they all unsheathed their weapons and readied for combat.

"Team RWBY vs team CRDL. Are the teams ready?" Goodwitch asked.

"Yes." Both team leaders said simultaneously.

"Then let the first team match of the year, begin!" The teacher shouted and getting off of the training floor. Yang ran up the right side of the training floor and Blake ran up the left. Ruby placed herself in the top left corner of the battlefield and set up her sniper. Yang shot behind her propelling herself into the air. While she was in the air, she shot herself downward at the ground. The impact created a small shockwave knocking the opponent's team leader onto his feet. Blake make the mistake of running into the group of three boys before Ruby had set up. Blake realised this and immediately went on the defensive. Ruby had finally set up and released a few shots from Crescent Rose at her partners attackers. As Ruby engaged from afar, Blake took their disadvantage and attack one of team CRDL members Sky Lark. Ruby had been shooting at the other two members who had caught on to what was happening now.

Yang was in a fist versus mace fight with team CRDL's leader Cardin Winchester. Yang ducked under his attack and shot him in the stomach. The attack had stunned the poor boy and Yang used this to her advantage. She shot behind her and flew at the boy who was still recovering from her attack. Yang punched him across the face, sending the team leader flying and out of the match. She looked over to see how her teammates were doing.

Russel Thrush had gotten too close to Ruby so Weiss had engaged. Ruby was still trying to cover Blake from Dove Bronzewing while she engaged Sky Lark. Blake had got Sky Lark beaten and they both knew it. Blake cast a shadow double and jumped off of it into the air. Ruby saw this move and took the fact that Sky was off guard to snipe him. She unleashed three shot which all landed in the halberd users back. His aura dropped into the red signalling that he was out of the match. Weiss was in a close fight with Russell. She blocked an attack from one of his daggers, but failed to block the second one. Dove Bronzewing rushed at Blake's back while she landed hoping to take her by surprise. Blake had used this move over and over but it always seemed to be effective. She cast a clone below her and jumped off of it. Dove didn't see her do this and attacked the clone of Blake only to have his sword hit nothing but air. Before he knew it, he was on the ground with Blake standing on top of him. Dove's aura went into the red signalling him to be out.

Weiss kept on her toes when fighting Russell. He was fast and Weiss nearly couldn't keep up, he would land a few of his attacks while Weiss couldn't land any. Suddenly a shot from crescent Rose knocked one of Russell's daggers out of his hands. Weiss now had the upper hand. She cast a glyph at her feet and behind Russell. She jumped into the air and sent herself flying at the confused duel wielder. Weiss launched at him with such a force that Russell didn't have any time to react to. Weiss landed her attack and took Russell out of the fight. Team RWBY gathered together and earned a cheer from the audience.

"The winner of today's first team match is team RWBY." Goodwitch said.

"Good teamwork guys." Ruby said happily. The teams went back into the stands and prepared to watch the next match. The two teams were team JSTR versus team GLDN. (Golden) They watched as team JSTR practically wiped the floor with them. Team JSTR consisted of Josh Sandwin, Sergai Nagont, Tanya Panzerfaust, and Ryder Pennyworth. While the fight was happening, Ruby looked over at her friends. Strangely the person who was paying the most attention was Mag. Ruby shrugged the thought off and continued to watch the end of the match.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _The only teams that I want the story to be about mainly is team RWBY, STRM, JSTR, and a side of team JNPR…. I hope you guys are liking the story so far._

 _Rusty: No I hate it, it sucks._

 _Mag: Rusty, remember what he said._

 _Rusty: *Sigh* fine, sorry._

 _Teal: I don't get why you hate him so much._

 _Rusty: That's for me to know and you to never find out._

 _Me: See you guys later, assuming that they don't kill me first somehow._

 _rwbyfan5: *busts through the fourth wall* I'M HERE TOO! I DID BETA THINGS TO THIS CHAPTER!_

 _Rusty: Darn it, we just fixed that!_


	12. Surprise!

_**A.N.:**_ _I'm writing this really quietly so that nobody comes into my room, especially the people from in the story. Let's get onto the chapter before someone breaks the fourth wall again!_

 _Yang: Too late!_

 _Me: Ah, for fucks sake!_

* * *

 **Suprise!**

* * *

A few weeks had passed and the teams were entering into their second month at Beacon. Team RWBY had gone on a field trip which was pretty boring until those Ursa came around and decided to try to ruin everyone's day. Teams RWBY and JNPR easily took down the Ursa and proceeded with their day normally. They arrived back at home and decided to retire to their bunks.

"Wow, two months already." Ruby said staring at the ceiling.

She was speaking to the secret faunus girl laying in her bunk.

"It's hard to believe that we've made it this far." Blake had to admit.

Even she was surprised at how fast the time at Beacon was flying by. Yang made her presence know by entering the room abruptly scaring Ruby half to death.

"What's up guys?" Yang asked jumping onto her bed.

"Aside from you nearly giving Ruby a heart attack, I would say we are fine." Blake said glaring at the bed on top of her.

"Sorry Rubes." Yang said, killing her mood.

"It's okay Yang." Ruby said comforting her sister.

Weiss walked into the room with a strong feel about her.

"Tomorrow is going to be fun." Weiss said smiling.

"Why, what's going on tomorrow?" Yang asked curiously

"Well I happened to peak at the team matchups for tomorrow's sparring matches." Weiss started

"Ohh, I'm so excited!" Ruby said happily hopping off of her bed.

"Anyway, I looked at the matchups for tomorrow and we are sparing with our good friends, team STRM." Weiss said triumphantly.

"Your right Weiss, this will definitely be fun." Yang piped up.

"Right, should we devise a plan?" Ruby asked the group.

"Maybe, or should we wait until morning?" Weiss asked.

"We should probably work it out tonight. That way nobody will hear us scheming." Blake said with one of her rare smiles.

"Blake's got a good point." Ruby agreed .

"Fine, let's do this tonight." Weiss said in a defeated tone, crossing her arms.

"Well, taking note of their semblances first of all. We know that Steel can heal himself and others, Mag can teleport, Rusty can create an energy shield, and Teal can see people's auras." Ruby pointed out the opposing team's abilities.

"Our primary target should probably be Steel." Yang started

"Agreed, that would take out any healing factors for their team, plus they would lose their leader giving them a disadvantage." Blake said, exploiting STRM's leader

"What about the rest of them?" Weiss asked

"If Mag teleports she will be hard to hit." Blake said "But if she uses that power too much, she'll tire herself out."

"And how do we tire her out like that?" Yang asked.

"Two of us keep going at her to get her to teleport over and over." Ruby said to them.

"Teal is going to be difficult." Yang observed

"Yeah, he can use his semblance through walls, any elevation given to us will be useless if he can see us." Weiss added.

"He can't see us if we are behind him." Ruby said coyly

"True, but that will be the hard part." Blake added.

"We could distract him." Weiss suggested

"Let's come back to him later, what about Rusty?" Ruby started

"Well, all we know about him is he can create an energy field. We don't know how it works or what it exactly does." Weiss pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang asked abruptly

"It means that we don't know if it is an actual shield or if he can cast it around himself or anything." Ruby explained

"Oh." Yang said killing the conversation. The team waited in silence for about a minute before Ruby got the team back on track.

"Okay, so the plan for each of them is, take out Steel first, then probably Rusty or Teal. Lastly, Mag will need to be tired out, so she will be our last target.

"This actually sounds like a good plan." Weiss admitted

"We will have to adapt to the playing field laid out for us." Blake said

"Alright, let's get to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." Ruby said jumping into her bed. The team all had their pyjamas on already and all hopped into their bunks. Ruby lay there in her bunk staring at the ceiling unable to fall asleep. Ruby kept staring for about an hour before giving up on sleeping. Ruby looked around the room to see if anyone else was awake. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now and she could see brief outlines of her sister who was lying down, and Blake who was sitting upright. Reading? How was Blake reading, even Ruby's eyes had adjusted to the dark, but not to the point where she could see sharp detail.

"Blake?" Ruby whispered causing the girl to panic slightly

"Oh, hi, Ruby." Blake said tucking the book behind her pillow.

"Were you reading?" Ruby asked

"Uh yeah." Blake whispered.

"How? I mean, I have really good eyesight too, but not to the point where I can read in the dark." Ruby said.

"That is a story for another time." Blake said laying back onto her pillow.

"Get some sleep, okay?" Ruby asked, now feeling drowsy.

She decided to follow the drowsiness into sleep. Ruby hit the pillow and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Blake woke up again and was surprised to find Ruby sitting in one of the desks

"Ruby, what are you doing up at this time?" Blake asked

I had a nightmare and it woke me up." Ruby said. She was holding herself in a ball. Blake stood up and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby looked up at Blake, she had some tears in her eyes.

"What happened in your dream?" Blake asked

"Well, we were out in on a mission somewhere. We landed and the entire area was entirely Grimm infested. We fought for what felt like two hours. Eventually we were getting tired and weaker. Yang was the first to fall among us. A Beowolf jumped her and to put simply, bit her head off." Ruby shuddered at the thought of her sister dying like that. Ruby continued on with her dream. "Weiss rushed over to her to find her dead. We radioed for evacuation and held our ground. Weiss made a bad move and missed her target. She got swarmed by Grimm and was torn limb from limb. We held our ground and heard the Bullhead over us. We were distracted, I looked back and a death stalker had skewered you with its tail." Ruby had started sobbing now but she finished her story. " I hopped onto the airship and we flew away. I arrived back to Beacon to find it overrun with Grimm. Everyone of my friends was lying there dead in front of me. The airship was knocked out of the air by a Nevermore and I crashed. The last thing I remember is all of those red eyes and sharp teeth in front of me. And that's it." Ruby said still sobbing

"It was only a dream, I'm still here, and so is Yang and Weiss." Blake said trying to comfort her leader.

"I know, but it seemed so realistic." Ruby said

"Dreams can be like that sometimes, but we have to keep moving forward." Blake said closing her eyes.

"You're right, besides we have a fight ahead of us today. I need to be strong." Ruby said wiping away the tears.

"Good, we need our leader today." Blake said allowing Ruby to stand up. "Let's go change and get ready for the day."

"Okay. And Blake, thanks for listening to me." Ruby said shying away from the girl's face

"Don't mention it." Blake replied walking over to the closet to find a pair of cloths. Ruby pulled her combat clothing out after Blake. The two walked to the washroom silently to avoid waking anyone hearing them. They changed quickly and went back into the room.

"Well, it's about seven O'clock now." Blake said looking outside

"You can tell by looking outside?" Ruby questioned.

"Yeah, when I was a kid I had to sleep, and move around outside a lot. I learned to estimate the time by looking at the position of the moon or sun." Blake said astonishing Ruby. Ruby tried to speak but all that came out was a muffled "Wow". Blake turned to see Weiss waking up.

"Good morning, Ice Queen." Blake mocked .

"Oh ha, ha. Good morning." Weiss said with a yawn.

"Hey, don't fight you guys, we need to work together today. We can't have that if we are going to be fighting as a team today." Ruby said stepping in between the two. They both sighed and looked away from her.

"Yeah guys, don't fight." Yang said sitting up in her bunk.

"You join conversations at the worst times Yang." Weiss said shaking her head.

"Congratulations, you have now met Yang." Yang mocked giving a thumbs-up.

Weiss gave Yang a death stare. Yang chuckled at the heiress's reaction. Weiss shook her head and left with her clothes in her hand.

"When did she get those?" Ruby asked flustered.

"I swear. She is like a ninja. Even more than Blake sometimes." Yang said hopping down from her bunk. This earned her a Blake death stare. "She might be more sneaky sometimes, but you are definitely more scary." Yang shuffled away to go pick out some cloths.

Blake shook her head at the blonde and watched her walk out of the room.

"Are we ready?" Blake asked.

"For what, the match?" Ruby asked back.

"Yeah, today's match. Do you think we can win it?" Blake looked at her leader and crossed her arms waiting for an answer.

"I think we will win. As long as we are careful we should be fine." Ruby said sighing.

"You don't seem entirely confident." Blake pointed out.

"I guess, I think that it's just the fact that we have to fight our friends." Ruby said trying to gain some confidence.

"That's true." Blake agreed. Weiss had walked back into the room and sat down on her bed.

"Blake, do you think we could win?" Ruby asked looking up at her.

"I think that we will, as long as we stick to the plan." Blake replied.

"No plan survives the first engagement with the enemy." Weiss quoted.

"Why have you been doing that?" Blake asked showing a tiny amount of rage.

"What?" Weiss asked taken by surprise from the question.

"Always try to shoot me down" Blake said crossing her arms.

"You do that a lot recently." Ruby agreed

"I don't know what you are talking about, I don't do that, do I?" Weiss flustered and panicked.

Weiss and Blake had been fighting a lot recently. The constant argument had occurred a couple times a week between the two. Ruby or Yang would usually have to split them up so that they didn't fight.

"Look, I'm going to be the leader that nobody likes right now. You guys need stop fighting, you're tearing the team apart. Just talk with each other and sort out your differences." Ruby said causing both of them to look at each other with a sorry looking face.

"Look Blake, if I do that, just tell me. I grew up in a rough environment believe it or not." Weiss started.

"Weiss, let's just try to agree to disagree. We really need to stop this arguing. Ruby is right, we are breaking the team apart." Blake said nodding while she spoke. Weiss smiled and nodded.

"That was fairly easy." Yang said walking into the room causing everyone to jump.

"What the hell, why do you do that?" Blake said regaining her breath.

"I said it before. Glad that you met the real Yang." She said opening up her arms. She once again earned death stares from Weiss and Blake.

"Great the team is together. Let's go out, eat, go to class, and win this thing!" Ruby said excitedly. The team did just that and awaited for their fight.

* * *

"The winner is team JNPR." Glynda Goodwitch said out loud. She waited for the teams to leave the stage. Once the two teams did she went over the pros and cons about their fight.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Ruby whispered to her team.

They all gave a nod and waited for Goodwitch to finish.

"Alright, we have one last fight today." She said looking at her tablet. "Teams RWBY and STRM. Ruby had instructed them to look surprised to give team STRM a false sense of advantage. They played the role perfectly and went down to the stage. The two teams had taken opposite sides and readied their weapons. Goodwitch reset the stage and set it to a flat field

"There goes the neighbourhood." Ruby said smiling at her sniper rifle. "Okay go for Steel first then split up and head for Teal and Rusty. Watch your corners and your backs, and we should pull through with flying colors." Ruby said loud enough for her team to hear, but nobody else.

The two teams turned to face each other and waited for Goodwitch to start the match. The buzzer sounded and the two teams took off.

Blake ran off into the center of the field to try to draw the other team into the center. Blake noticed Mag and Teal flank her and waited. Blake heard the first bang and jumped into the air off of a shadow clone into the air. She looked back to see Teal rushing at her as she landed. She pulled out Gambol Shroud in its cleaved form and blocked his attack. He was stronger slightly and was gaining ground on her. Acting quickly Blake held onto the sheathe part of Gambol Shroud and kept it there. She pulled out the katana end and slashed at him. Teal forgot about the other side of Gambol shroud and took the hit in entirely. Blake ran off to go try to find Steel.

Weiss was keeping to the side of the room to single out an opponent. She spotted Steel and tried to sneak up on him. Steel suddenly turned and swung Axe Gevar at her. Reacting quickly, Weiss ducked under his swing in a limbo fashion and quickly got back onto her feet. Before he could retaliate Weiss attacked quickly slashing at him with Myrtenaster. He retaliated and bashed his Axe handle into Weiss's chest. She had the wind knocked out of her and was knocked back. Weiss locked up and saw Steel swinging his axe at her in a chopping motion. Suddenly a shot from behind her and hit Steel in the ribs knocking him onto his side.

"I've got your back Weiss" Ruby shouted. Weiss regained her awareness and gave a wave toward Ruby.

Weiss turned to see Steel starting to stand up. She acted quickly and cast a glyph at her feet. She flung herself at Steel and used Myrtenaster in a stabbing motion. Steel rolled out of the way just in time to dodge her attack. Weiss landed and looked back to see Steel back onto his feet. Out of nowhere, Rusty came rushing out of nowhere and attacked Weiss. Ruby checked her surroundings quickly before helping her teammate. She stuck Crescent Rose in the ground and started unloading shots at Steel. He managed to deflect most of the shots but she did manage to land a few.

"Tell me how the ground tastes." Rusty mocked Weiss who was smiling.

He turned around to see Yang standing there with her fists raised.

"Nah, you can find out for yourself." She taunted swinging at him. She took a shot from Ember Celica at Rusty and landed a hit. Yang suddenly felt the blow from her own punch and stumbled backwards. She looked up to a blue energy shield in front of Rusty.

"Yang!" Weiss yelled sending herself flying at Rusty.

She connected a hit with the actual body of the boy; he yelled out in pain from the surprise attack. Weiss locked over his shoulder to see Yang get back up on her feet and start running at Rusty. Weiss took a few steps backwards from the boy and the fast approaching blonde. Rusty looked up and felt another pain flow through his body. He was sent through the air across the stadium and fell unconscious mid flight.

Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose after firing an entire magazine at Steel. The boy had blocked most of her shots and turned his weapon from an axe into an assault rifle. Ruby put the magazine into Crescent Rose and took the blade out of the floor. Ruby quickly sheathed Crescent Rose and ran from the barrage of bullets being fired at her. She dodged the shots thanks to the use of her semblance. She waited for the barrage of shots to stop bursting through the air. Ruby slowed down and looked up at the board to see how they were doing in the fight.

Steel's aura was at about half, Mag's aura had depleted a tiny bit, Rusty was out of the fight, and Teal was also at about half. She glanced at her team's stats and was surprised at what she saw. She and Weiss were down about a quarter, Yang was pushed into the yellow, and Blake was out?

"Blake!?" Ruby looked around to try to find the girl. She ran to her teammates to regroup.

"Are you alright sis?" Yang asked

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to Blake?" She asked.

Both of her teammate gave a worried look and checked the board. Ruby looked around the arena to find the rest of team STRM. She saw them regrouping also and looking her way.

Yang gave a sigh.

"What's the plan here sis?" The blonde asked

"Weiss, give me a boost with a glyph when I give you the word. Yang when I say so, try to make a shockwave to get them into the air. Weiss as soon as you send me flying, head for Steel." Ruby said on the spot.

"I trust you." Yang said, reloading Ember Celica.

"I'm ready." Weiss stated ready to cast the glyph.

"Okay, now!" Ruby shouted.

Yang ran straight at the opposing team and waited for her to jump. As she did she gave Weiss the word to cast the glyph. She obliged and sent Ruby flying at team STRM. Yang had knocked Steel, Teal and Mag into the air just as Ruby had planned. She twirled Crescent Rose at the team and made multiple hits on the team. Yang looked around and saw Teal and Steel on the ground. She looked at the board to see the team's stats. Rusty and Steel were out and Steel was on the brink of red. She looked and Weiss went flying at Steel and sent him through the air. Ruby walked back to her team.

"Get into a close circle." Ruby ordered.

The two circled around her wondering why she had told them to do that. They quickly found out as Mag fell in the center of them and used Trick Fouet like a rug being pulled out from under them. They all fell to the floor and this caused Yang's aura to go into the red. Weiss got up, as did Ruby. The two looked at each other and searched for Mag. Ruby walked forward slightly and looked up at the board. Mag was halfway through yellow. They just needed her to drain her aura. Ruby ordered Weiss to run and try not to stop.

"Where are you?" Ruby said running and not using her semblance.

"Behind you." Mag whispered in her ear as she ran.

Ruby jumped to avoid getting knocked off of her feet. She dashed forward and quickly turned to look for Mag. Not being able to spot her quickly, she took off again. Ruby spotted Weiss as Mag teleported behind her. She saw Weiss get struck in the back by Trick Fouet and fall to the ground. Mag teleported away leaving Weiss on the floor; Weiss was unable to get up and her aura fell into the red. Ruby checked the board again and saw that Mag could only use her remaining aura reserves sparingly.

"A hit and you're out Mag." Ruby said to herself.

She heard movement behind her and swung Crescent Rose. Mag teleported just in time to dodge the attack. Ruby looked back to check how much aura a teleport drained. She guessed that Mag had about three teleports left. Ruby shot randomly to try to draw her out. She heard movement behind her and turned to see nothing. Ruby's eyes widened and ducked under the blade that cut just over her head. Ruby elbowed Mag knocking her off balance and sent her stepping backward. Ruby took her chance hoping that she couldn't teleport anymore and swung Crescent Rose. Ruby landed her hit and knocked Mag into the red. She gave off a sigh of relief and rushed over to help her teammates and team STRM back onto their feet.

* * *

"Well we did it." Blake said looking up at the roof.

They were back in their dorm and were all resting from their battle with team STRM.

"Yeah, I guess we did." Ruby said looking at her partner.

They were sitting on Blake's bed together and letting the other two teammates rest more. Ruby only had one question on her mind right now and she didn't know why it was this question but it was.

"Well what's next?" Blake asked.

"Rest up and get ready for whatever tomorrow has to throw at us." Ruby said nodding. "Blake, I have a question for you."

"And what's that? Wondering how I got out?" She said with one of her rare smiles

"Well that and, how could you read last night?" Ruby said looking up at her. Blake went pale and cold at her leader's words

"Can you keep a secret?" Blake asked looking Ruby straight in the eye.

"Of course, what is it?" Ruby nodded her head.

"I'm serious, nobody can hear about this, not even Weiss or Yang." Blake said continuing to stare at her leader.

"Blake, you can trust me. I promise that I won't tell a soul." Ruby said all sarcasm completely gone.

Blake pointed up to her bow and Ruby's eyes fallowed. Ruby could swear that her bow had just twitched without her touching it. Blake made her bow twitch again so Ruby could confirm her suspicions.

"Before you say anything: Yes, I'm a faunus. That's how I can see in the dark so well. I have night vision." Blake whispered lowering her hand to place it on one of her knees.

"That's awesome!" Ruby whispered trying to hide her excitement.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Blake agreed.

"You know, people seem really down in the dumps lately." Ruby said changing the subject to Blake's surprise

"Um, yeah, I suppose so." She said bouncing around her words.

"I think that after class tomorrow, we should all go out into the forest and do a nice little Grimm hunt." Ruby said optimistically.

Blake had to admit that all of the class work was kind of getting her down. A Grimm hunt would be just the thing to lighten her spirits. Plus Blake or anyone else couldn't really argue with Ruby because she gives the most horrifying guilt trip in the world.

"I think that is a great idea." Blake said trying to force a smile.

"We should invite Jaune, Steel and their teammates to." Ruby said standing up off of the bed.

"Great idea." Blake said this time not forcing her smile. It would be good for the three teams to get a bit closer together, especially after the match earlier on in the day.

"I will go ask them. Blake, do me a favour. If Weiss and or Yang wake up, tell them the plans alright." Ruby said looking back at her newly discovered faunus partner.

"Sure thing Ruby, just tell the others." Blake said using her hand to shoo Ruby away.

"Be back in a bit." Ruby said and took off out the door.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_

 _Me: Can someone help me get these people out of the fourth wall of the story? Please?_

 _Ruby: Why, don't you like us?_

 _Mag: I thought we were your friends!_

 _Yang: I thought you liked my puns!_

 _Blake: You have great fish here!_

 _Weiss: I don't really care._

 _Teal: *Sigh*_

 _Rusty: You Fuck!_

 _Steel:..._

 _Me: they really look like they want to hurt me. Onto the next chapter before I'm killed by angry hunters._


	13. Excursion

_**A.N.:**_ _Another chapter has been revised!_

 _Teal: I don't think you have to tell them every time._

 _Me: I know, but it's fun none the less._

 _Mag: Still can't believe we lost._

 _Steel: we'll get them next time._

 _Ruby: In your dreams!_

 _Rusty: This another challenge Rose?!_

 _Me: Petty arguments aside, to the chapter!_

* * *

 **Excursion**

* * *

"What the Hell! How was that my fault!?" Ruby heard the squeal from inside team STRM's room.

She gave a knock despite the sentence she heard.

"One minute." Steel's voice rang from inside the room.

Ruby waited patiently for the door to open. after about a minute, the door was opened by Teal.

"Hello, Ruby." Teal said happily gesturing her into the room.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Ruby asked cheerfully.

"Could be better." Rusty grunted rolling his eyes.

"So, what's up Ruby?" Steel asked ignoring his teammates outburst.

"Well, tomorrow after classes end, our team is going into the Emerald Forest to go do some training. I was wondering if you guys wanted to join us." Ruby beamed happily.

"We could vent some unwanted frustration." Teal pointed out.

"Some of us more than others" Mag scolded at Rusty who gave her the cold shoulder. She rolled her eyes and joined the conversation again.

"I don't want to intrude but what is going on with you guys? I mean, you guys seem hostile toward each other since the match today." Ruby asked giving her head a tilt.

"Just an argument that started after the match. Count us in for the little field trip tomorrow." Steel said changing the subject.

"Okay sounds good, I need to go ask Jaune's team if they want to come as well." Ruby said standing up and walking toward the door.

"See you tomorrow." Teal said giving a wave.

Ruby waved back and closed the door behind her. Ruby took off toward team JNPR's dorm. She realised that she could have asked them first because they're room was right across from hers. Ruby shook the feeling of stupidity off and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly enough by Pyrrha.

"Hello Ruby, what's up?" She asked with a smile.

"Oh nothing, just wondering if you guys wanted to come with Steel and my team to the Emerald Forest tomorrow." Ruby said with a smile.

"Well that sounds like a fun idea." Pyrrha said putting a hand on her hip.

"Are you in?" Ruby asked ecstatically.

"Well, Jaune and Nora are out right now, I will let you know at dinner." The Spartan said taking her scroll out of her pocket.

"Okay, sounds good." Ruby beamed.

"See you later." Pyrrha said closing the door.

Ruby sighed in slight defeat. She shook the feeling off and walked about three steps into her own room.

"Wow Ruby, I didn't think you had the confidence." The now wide awake Yang said running up to her sister and giving her a hug.

"Blake filled us in already." Weiss said stretching from the feeling of sleep.

"Well, all of my questions are answered." Ruby said escaping the deathly embrace of her sister.

"Hey, what time is it. I think that it's almost suppertime." Yang said, on queue the intercom system turned on.

"Dinner is now being served in the cafeteria." The voice of Goodwitch rang out. The intercom turned off and the teammates all looked at Yang.

"What?" Yang questioned clearly confused.

"Well Yang, you have the title of 'joining conversations at the wrong time' and, 'the most convenient timing of random things on Remnant'." Blake said, gesturing her arms appropriately for both scenarios.

"Ah, who cares, let's go eat." Yang said shooting her arms into the air.

"Agreed." Weiss said coyly, rolling her eyes.

"Let's go!" Ruby shouted and the team ran out the door. A crash could be heard through the hall. Ruby shook off what happened and stood up again.

"Seriously, how did we do this again!?" Jaune exclaimed standing up from the ground. Both teams had run into each other again. They got up and brushed themselves off.

"Come on guys, let's go." Ruby said stretching the knot out of her back.

* * *

"That was great." Ruby said putting her hands behind her head. Team's RWBY, JNPR, and STRM were sitting in their spot in the cafeteria. Pyrrha had told her teammates about the field trip tomorrow and they were all for it.

"Are you guys excited for tomorrow?" Ruby asked the group.

"of course, it should be a blast." Steel replied taking a sip of his water. Ruby could barely wait for tomorrow.

She took a quick glance around the table and saw that Rusty looked troubled.

"Hey Steel, what is wrong with Rusty? He seems to be kind of off." Ruby said tilting her head.

"We had a bit of an argument before remember, he should be fine though." Steel replied simply.

"What about." She asked giving her head more tilt.

"Our fight today." Steel said looking away from her. Ruby put her hand on Steel's back

"Well tomorrow things will be alright. We could use this homemade field trip to vent some of this steam building up." She told him causing Steel to look up at her again with a smile.

"We should probably go rest up now." Steel suggested.

Ruby decided that was a good idea and stood up with her tray in hand. She walked away and put her tray back; Steel went with her. Ruby walked back to the table. She approached her sister and told her she was going back to the dorm. With a sigh, Ruby left the cafeteria. She decided to go to bed early, she pulled out her pyjamas and put them on before anyone walked into the room. She hopped up into her bunk, pulled the covers over, and closed her eyes. Ruby waited for the sleep to take her; before it could, Yang walked into the room, with Blake and Weiss close behind her. Ruby felt Yang's presence behind her.

"Goodnight Ruby" Yang whispered.

"Good night Yang" Ruby whispered back with a smile. Ruby felt the sleep creep up on her. Before she knew it, Ruby was out like a light.

* * *

She awoke with a yawn and took a quick glance around the room. To no surprise, she looked over at Blake who is up and reading. She gave a smile the girl's way.

"Good morning Blake." she whispered so she wouldn't wake anyone else up.

The girl gave her a wave and went back to reading. Ruby looked around for something to do, she looked over at the clock and saw the time, it was about seven o'clock ;Ruby sighed.

"Might as well get up" Ruby thought to herself. Ruby hopped down off of her bed and stretched. Ruby went to go pick out some close from the closet. She took out her combat skirt and ran out the door to the bathroom. Ruby change quickly and ran back to the dorm. She opened the door and saw that Weiss was starting to wake up. She looked at her sister who was still lying in bed. Ruby shook her head. Suddenly, Weiss gave a big yawn.

"Good morning Ruby, Blake, Yang" Weiss said trying to drown out the yawn.

She stood up took a quick glance around the room.

" Let's go through the day and get through the day." Ruby said to her teammates.

"This should be a fun day." Yang said

"Can't wait." Blake added

"Okay, first we have Grimm studies, then history, then- Wait, why am I telling you guys this? You know the schedule already." Ruby said face palming herself.

This earned a laugh from everyone in the room; even a chuckle from the heiress.

"Okay, let's get dressed awnd go." Blake said rushing out of the room.

The two girls shrugged, grabbed their clothes and ran after her. The quickly changed and went back to the dorm to get Ruby. With that, they went off to whatever awaited them in the day.

* * *

The three teams were just leaving their last class with professor Peach and realised what their plan was. They all took one glance at each other and ran out of the school toward the Emerald Forest. With all of their weaponry in check, they were all fairly confident about the trip. After a few minutes the three teams stood at the entrance of the Emerald Forest. They all took a quick breather before walking into the forest.

"See anything?" Jaune asked after about three minutes of walking.

"Nope." Ruby replied slightly annoyed by the fact that nothing had shown itself.

Ruby practically walked into Teal as he stopped in his tracks.

"Whoa, wait." he said holding up his hand. His aura started flaring off of his body indicating that he was using his semblance. Teal opened his eyes again and readied his weapon. Taking the hint , the rest of them did the same. It turns out that a pack of about twenty Beowolves were following them. Yang, Rusty, Nora and Steel rushed at the pack behind them. They attacked with lightning speeds of ferocity. The only thing the Beowolves could do was howl and swipe at something that used to be, but wasn't there. The Four of them quickly took the minor threat down and the group moved on. Another Beowolf came out of the forest, this Beowolf towered above the twelve teens before it. It gave a mighty howl that could have been heard across the area of the forest they were in and then some.

"More fun!" Nora said sporadically.

Ruby realised that she didn't mean the large Beowolf alone, but the four Ursa major circling them.

"Steel, you and your team take out that Beowolf, the rest of us will handle the Ursi!" Team STRM hopped into action and started attacking the giant beast.

The remaining group tag teamed the Ursa to quickly kill them. Ruby tagged with Blake and efficiently attacked the Ursa with a few slashes and cuts from both of them. The beast fell into a pile of its own blood and died shortly after. Ruby checked to see how everyone else was doing. Yang had hit the Ursa into the air, while it was airborne, Weiss barraged it with slashes killing the beast. Jaune and Pyrrha had stabbed their beast multiple times, while Nora and Ren had done something similar to Yang and Weiss.

"Good job you guys." Ruby shouted happily. The giant Beowolf had howled again, Ruby turned to see the Beowolf with Mag's katana in its neck. Teal had jabbed his sword into its back and slid down it jumping off at the end. Rusty jump kicked the Beast in the chest causing it to fall over.

"Was that really necessary?" Weiss asked Rusty.

"Of course, what about that wasn't necessary?" He replied.

"How about the overkill part." Mag mocked coyly.

Rusty somehow heard her and shot her a nasty glare. Mag smiled and pulled Trick Fouet out of the disintegrating Beowolf's neck. Steel sheathed Axe Gevar after wiping it to clean any blood left on the blade.

"So, having fun yet?" Ruby said with a laugh.

"Defiantly." Teal replied. He flared his aura to check the surroundings for any signs of other Grimm. His aura stopped flaring and Teal stood up again.

"Find anything Turquoise?" Rusty asked earning him a look from Teal .

"First of all,yeah, there are some Beowolfs incoming, not anything that we can't handle though. Secondly, what did I tell you about calling me that?" He scolded. Rusty chuckled

"That's it? I would have thought that a cry from that big of a Beowolf would have called a lot more than that." Blake said scratching near her faunus ears under her bow.

"I'm not complaining!" Rusty shouted unsheathing his weapon.

"Teal, do another read, just to be sure." Steel ordered. Teals aura flared again, brighter this time. Teal's eyes shot open as he unsheathed Piana Morska.

"Get ready! We have a Nevermore and a Deathstalker inbound, and they're big too." Teal shouted.

As he finished, the Deathstalker came crashing through the woods, knocking down all the trees in its path. The Beowolves were following close behind it. The Nevermore was just circling overhead which caused most of the group to be very uneasy.

"Okay guys, w-we got t-th-this." Jaune stuttered, trying to show his confidence.

"Yeah!" Ruby joined in.

"Okay, what's the game plan?" Mag asked. She and Blake were both firing their pistols at the smaller Beowolves trying to kill them.

"Yang, Rusty, Nora, Steel, try and keep that scorpion distracted." Ruby ordered.

"Got it!" Steel replied before running into battle.

"Blake, Mag, Jaune and Weiss, kill those Beowolves!" She ordered again receiving a quick nod from each of them.

"The rest of us, kill that Nevermore!" Ruby said unravelling Crescent Rose.

Releasing a few shots at the giant bird, the others did the same and moved for cover. Nevermore's could get rid of feathers by shooting them off; if you were out in the open, you could survive with an injury at best, if you were lucky. Ruby looked for and angle to surprise it from.

"Any ideas?" Pyrrha asked reloading her rifle form of Milὀ and Akoὐo.

Ruby kept looking for an opportunity when she noticed a clearing in the woods

"I think I have a plan. Do you see that clearing? We need to get that thing to land somehow." Ruby said running a plan through her head.

"Okay, aim for the wings then?" Pyrrha asked shooting at the bird.

"Exactly." Ruby smiled "Go tell Ren and Teal." And with that Pyrrha took off in their direction.

She looked to see how her other friends were doing. Yang broke the Death Stalker's head armour with one punch shattering it. Blake and the others were killing off the last of the Beowolves but more came out of the forest.

"Okay, Ruby, on your mark." Pyrrha shouted in her direction.

"Wait for it, wait, wait, wait... NOW!" Ruby shouted unleashing a hail of shots from Crescent Rose.

They all aimed for the left wing of the Nevermore. The bird cried in pain as the dust rounds hit its wing, it took the bait and landed in the clearing of the forest. The four of them rushed the downed bird. The Nevermore noticed them and tried to take off and flew right into the trees; but it was somehow airborne.

"Damn it" Pyrrha exclaimed flustered.

"We will get another shot Pyrrha, don't worry." She said putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. Pyrrha gave a sigh and pushed Ruby's hand off of her shoulder.

"I know, It's just, never mind, let's kill this thing." Pyrrha said before taking off to go kill the Nevermore. Ruby shrugged it off and took off after Pyrrha.

"What is the plan now?" Teal asked running beside Ruby.

"I don't know, any ideas?" Ruby replied.

"Uh, wing it?" He questioned, this got a smile out of Ruby.

The Nevermore had circled back around and done a strafing run through the forest. The feather's barely missed Ruby and Teal. Ren was out in the open trying to get the birds attention.

"What is he doing?" Ruby asked.

"To hell if I know, let's wing it." Teal replied.

Ruby smiled and they ran into the open with Ren; Pyrrha joined shortly after.

"Still don't have a plan." Ruby stated.

"Well I've got one." Teal said "We wing it."

Before anyone could react Teal jumped into the air and stabbed the bird in the air and slashed the Nevermore in it's already injured wing. The screech of pain from the giant bird rang out across the forest. Teal landed after the attack but the bird was still in the air, but losing altitude. The bird looked like it was about to release more of the deadly feathers at them. As the bird fired, Ruby quickly noticed that it wasn't firing at her group of four, but at Blake who was still killing the incoming Beowolves.

Reacting quickly, Ruby ran over to the other group and pushed Blake out of the way from an incoming feather spear. She knew that she had just saved Blake but something felt off. Ruby felt a sudden sharp surge of pain flow through her right leg. She looked back to see her leg with the Nevermore's feather right through it. Ruby noticed the harsh, burning sensation a lot more intimately now.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, killing the Deathstalker with a hard punch.

She ran to Ruby's side quickly and kneeled down beside her.

"It hurts" Ruby whimpered trying to clutch her leg.

The feather had pierced her leg from just above the knee. Her blood was squirting out of the wound a lot less than it should have been.

"I know Ruby, I know." Yang said applying pressure to the bleeding wound.

A Beowolf came running out of the woods and rushed at Ruby who was still lying on the ground. Nobody could react in time, but before the Beowolf could land an attack, a sniper shot rang through the air and the shot connected with a satisfying crunch knocking the Beowolves head clean off. Yang and Ruby looked in the direction of the shot and saw a reptilian faunas holding a staff like sniper rifle. Three others came running out of the forest.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Blake asked after getting her bearings back from after Ruby had tackled her.

"Well, if having the equivalent of a spear through your leg is fine, then I am great." Ruby joked trying to ignore the pain.

"Steel, get over here!" Yang shouted.

The group who had basically saved Ruby was countering the now small amount of Beowolves that remained in the fight. Steel rushed to Ruby's right side opposite Yang.

"What happened?" Steel asked applying more pressure.

"Nevermore would have skewered me, but Ruby pushed me out of the way before it could, but she got hit by the attack." Blake said with hints of guilt in her voice.

"Okay you two, I need you to do what I say when I say it." Steel said pulling up his sleeves.

"Okay." Both girls said simultaneously.

"Blake, when I give you the signal, try and pull that feather out. Yang, please restrain Ruby." Steel ordered.

Yang basically sat on Ruby's back and held her shoulders to the ground.

"Ready." Yang said

"Ditto." Agreed Blake jabbing Gambol Shroud into the base of the feather as to give her more leverage.

"Okay, one, two, Three!" Steel shouted.

With a pull, Blake took the feather out to see a golf ball sized hole in the back of Ruby's leg. The poor girl was crying in pain and stopped as the feather came out. Blake got up quickly before any of Ruby's blood came out of her leg. Blood started slowly pouring out of Ruby's wound. Steel started flaring his aura making his semblance go to work. After about a minute the glow stopped, but there was still a hole in Ruby's leg only a bit smaller than before.

"Damn it!" Steel shouted.

"What, why isn't Ruby healed?" Yang panicked. everyone had started to gather around Ruby, Steel, and Yang.

"I need more aura, that fight drained most of mine out of me." Steel said slamming his fist into the ground.

One of the other team members came forward.

"I can help you there." The girl said.

"Okay, what's your name again?" Steel asked

"Name's Ryder, I can transfer some of my aura to you so that you can heal her." She said kneeling down beside Ruby.

"Okay, ready?" Steel asked.

She gave a nod and started transferring her aura into Steel. He started the healing process as soon as his aura level hit the minimum to use his semblance, Both aura's flared giving off a dark greenish gray glow. Ruby's wound was slowly closing as the two aura's worked in unison. The wound closed back up and the two aura flare's died down.

"Well, I certainly feel much better." Ruby said starting to get back up

"Whoa easy there Ruby, stay off of the leg for a minute." Steel advised.

"Oh, okay." Ruby said surprised

"Okay, everyone set up a perimeter until she is good enough to stand" Steel said

"Hey, someone stay with me please." Ruby begged.

"I will." Ryder sad addressing the group.

"Okay, we should only need to wait for about twenty minutes or so" Steel said, with that everyone spread out in a circle formation around Ruby.

"Are you okay?" Ryder asked kneeling down beside her.

"Yeah, I'll live" Ruby joked. "I don't get it, why do we have to stay here?" She asked.

"It's just to make sure that your wound heals fully." Ryder said

"But it feels fine" Ruby replied

"Better to be safe, rather than sorry." Ryder said putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby gave a smile and put her leg in a more comfortable position.

"How did you do that?" Ruby asked

"Do what?" Ryder replied with a questioning look

"Transfer your aura to Steel!" Ruby elaborated

"Oh, well you see, I have a really large Aura reserve. My semblance allows me to transfer some of the aura into another person." Ryder explained

"That makes sense." Ruby said. "What about your other teammates?" she asked.

"Well, Josh over there can basically manipulate the ground to his will." She replied pointing at a red headed boy who was talking with Rusty; or at least trying to. "Sergei has an ability that fits his chameleon heritage perfectly, he can bend light to make him appear almost invisible at times." She pointed at the Faunus sniper who was sitting in a tree for a vantage point. "And then there is Tanya, she can predict an enemy's movements, it does take a lot out of her though. We are working together to help her master it." She finished "What about your team?" She asked

"Well, I can move really fast, Weiss can create these glyphs and use them in pretty creative ways, Blake can create some sort of shadow of herself that she uses to jump off of, and Yang can take a mighty hit and turn that into energy that she uses to fight back with more ferocity." Ruby said, she looked at Yang and Tanya who looked like they were enjoying each other's company.

Ruby started to feel a bit drowsy in her comfortable position. She actually felt relaxed and surprisingly, Ruby fell asleep without warning.

* * *

Ruby felt the sleep start to lose her as she began to wake up. She shook off the sleep and felt a hand shaking her awake. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by her sister smiling at her.

"Hey Ruby, Steel says that you should be fine to go now." Yang said not taking her hand off of Ruby's shoulder.

"Oh, okay, when are we going?" Ruby asked starting to get onto her feet.

"In about five minutes." Yang replied taking her hand off of Ruby's shoulder.

"Okay, sounds good" Ruby smiled. Yang walked off to join the rest of the group that was gathered in the forest.

"Ah, the girl in red awakens" Steel joked getting a slight chuckle out of Ruby

"So, what did I miss?" she asked

"Well, a Beowolf showed up, but that's about it." Blake answered.

"Okay, well let's get a move on" Ruby said. With that the sixteen hunters took off toward Beacon. When they arrived back at the school, Ozpin was waiting for them at the front gate.

"Thank you team JSTR, you may go now." Ozpin said dismissing Ryder and the rest of her team. "I would like a word with a team at a time please, in my office." With that Ozpin turned around and walked to his tower.

"Okay, I guess it's time to face the music" Rusty said smugly .

"Our team will go first. It was our idea." Blake said earning a nod from everyone.

The four members of team RWBY walked into the elevator and pressed the button to take them to Ozpin's office. The door opened and they were greeted by Ozpin sitting at his desk, and Goodwitch standing beside him.

"You wanted to see us sir?" Weiss asked

"Yes, it seems that a few individuals, once they were done with classes today, decided to go out in the Emerald Forest and train against the creatures that lurked in the region." Ozpin said without addressing any of them.

"Well, that's the short part of the story I guess." Yang agreed.

"I was hoping that one of your teams could fill in the details." Ozpin said taking a sip of coffee.

"Well, first of all it was my idea." Ruby started, Blake tried to intervene but Ruby didn't let her. "After our match with team STRM, we realised that most of us have been building up some unwanted steam, so we decided that the best way to let it off was to go and train against the enemy." Ruby said

"If I may, Miss Rose. Why didn't you just train amongst yourselves in the training room?" Goodwitch asked

"Because the sparring match with team STRM showed that it would just push out teams apart from each other." Blake replied before Ruby could say anything.

Goodwitch nodded in agreement.

"But why the forest?" She asked

"Well, as Blake said, training amongst ourselves would just cause more hostility, so we decided to train as friends against the real enemy. It worked too." Weiss pointed out.

"Of course. But I was hoping to find out what exactly happened in the forest." Ozpin said.

"Well, the little Grimm eventually started to swarm us and the giant Nevermore and Death Stalker didn't help" Yang said

"Ruby got injured to save my life, She pushed me out of the way of the Nevermore's spear feather and it caught her in the leg." Blake started but was interrupted by Ruby

"Steel tried to help me but his aura level was too low to use his semblance enough to heal me. Then team JSTR showed up and Ryder transferred some of her aura into Steel, allowing him to heal me."

"I don't know if we could have made it back here with Ruby's condition without her." Weiss said.

"Well, that must have been quite an adventure. Assuming that you are alright Ms Rose, I guess that we have nothing more to discuss. You may go now." Ozpin said.

Ruby gave a shrug and started to walk out the door.

"Would you like me to tell team JNPR or STRM to come into your office when we get down there?" Ruby asked before her and her teammates left the room.

"No, I think that we have all of the data we need Ms Rose. You and your friends may retire now if you wish." Ozpin replied. Ruby, Blake, Yang and Weiss walked into the Elevator and headed downward. When they arrived at the bottom floor, both teams were still waiting and most of them were pacing or just being absolutely quiet. Jaune was the first to notice them walk out of the elevator.

"Well, how did it go?" He asked acting quite jittery

"Could be worse" Ruby said coyly

"Ozpin let us off easy Ruby." Weiss scolded putting a hand on her hip

"Well, what about us?" Rusty asked

"We're all off of the hook." Blake said with her arms crossed.

A sigh of relief came from the eight hunters. Ruby chuckled at the sound that was made.

"Come on guys, let's go." Mag said turning toward the dorms. The rest followed her back to the dorm to retire for the night.

"Goodnight you guys." Ruby said to both teams as they walked into the room.

She closed the door and looked around the room. Blake was lying on her bed, as was Weiss. Yang walked up to Ruby and pulled her into a hug.

"Please don't scare me like that again." Yang said as a tear trickled down her cheek.

"I will do my best Yang." Ruby said returning the hug.

It was surprisingly late now, it didn't feel like they had been out for longer than an hour. By the time they left, to the time they returned, five hours had somehow passed.

Yang gave a smile toward her sister.

"I know you will Ruby." She said turning away.

Ruby gave a sigh

"Time flies when you're having fun." Ruby said under her breath she smiled and got ready for bed.

"Thanks again Ruby, for saving my life." Blake said still staring up at the top bunk.

"Don't mention it, you would have done the same for me." She replied.

A weight felt like it was lifted from Ruby's shoulders for some reason. They were all in their night clothing and tucked in now.

"Tomorrow will be a good day." Ruby thought.

She let the thought float in her head while she lay in her bed. She let it take her into sleep, before she knew it, sleep took her.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Well, onto the next one, before the fourth wall breaks again. I really wish that they would stop doing that._

 _Yang:_ Aww come on, fourth wall breaks are the best.

 _Me: Yeah, but the thing is, you don't break the fourth wall, you shatter it to pieces._

 _Yang:_ That's my job dummy.

 _Steel:_ How is it your job to shatter the fourth wall?

 _Me: It isn't, see you guys in the next chapter. Bye!_

 **Puck watches you sleep. Not creepily at all.**

 **All hail Nox.**

 _Me: Oh_ **Nox** _, now what wall is breaking now?_

 _RedMoose:_ All of them and none of them.

 _Me: HELP ME!_

 _RedMoose:_ Yeah… No.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Sweet dreams, dear readers! :-3**


	14. Check

_**A.N.:**_ _This is a bit of a shorter chapter than regular, I won't really talk much, never mind. Enjoy the chapter!_

 _Yang: How do I enjoy something if it's so small?_

 _Me: I'm not going to answer that._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **That's what she said.**

 _RedMoose:_ Ooohhhh! No seriously I have no idea what I walked in on.

 _Me: Really you guys, really?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Really.**

 _RedMoose:_ Yeah, all I needed was a pen.

 _Me: Onto the chapter before anything else happens_

 _RedMoose:_ Too late. *pulls out grenade and pulls pin.*

 _rwbyfan5:_ **We're the editors, by the way. We make the story readable.**

 _RedMoose:_ And now we're dead. By the way, where's my pen?

 _Me: So much for not talking much…_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Story time!**

 _*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!* *Grenade Explodes.*_

* * *

 **Check**

* * *

Blake was awake as everyone else slept. This was basically the norm for her now. However, the reason for her being awake had nothing to do with that fact. Blake was feeling troubled at the field trip that had occurred that day. She had almost been skewered by a Nevermore's feather, as luck would have it, her leader pushed her out of the way but the feather pierced her leg. According to Ruby, the Nevermore just stopped attacking them and went straight for her. she kept trying to shake the near death experience off but it still lingered in her head. She got out of bed quietly and snuck out of the room. She needed to get some air. Blake closed the door behind her and went out into the courtyard. She looked at the hunter's statue in the middle.

"Can't sleep?" The familiar voice of Mag said from behind the statue.

She looked on the other side where she was sitting. Mag gestured Blake to take a seat with her.

"I guess that you could say that." Blake replied sitting down beside Mag.

The statue's concrete was cold to the touch.

"Why is that, still thinking about today?" She asked getting a nod from Blake.

"It just feels weird knowing that I was an inch away from death today." Blake said.

"I guess that would do it to a person." Mag smiled.

"What about you?" Blake asked.

"Boys. They can be a hassle to deal with." Mag joked.

"Who in particular?" Blake smiled.

"Take a guess" She replied rolling her eyes at the thought

"Rusty?" Blake said giving an educated guess.

Rusty had basically been hitting on Mag since the start of the year when they had become teammates. Blake could tell that Mag was pretty annoyed at this point. It was close to the same scenario as Jaune hitting on Weiss every week, except it was almost every day.

"Bingo, you win a prize. Want a lollipop?" Mag joked sarcastically.

They both chuckled.

"Well, if I were you, I don't think I could handle it." Blake admitted.

"It's not so bad, it has just gone from funny to annoying, and it's starting to piss me off a bit." She said

"How do you handle it?" Blake asked

"With my semblance, helps when he doesn't know where I'm teleporting to." Mag smiled, "Sorry to change the subject back to you but, about your sleep problem. Knowing you, it shouldn't bother you that much to have another near death experience."

"I know." Blake paused, what was the reason she couldn't sleep? She had plenty of near death experiences in her life so far. Why was this one eating at her?

"What's on your mind" Mag asked.

"Those Grimm felt off today." Blake said.

"What do you mean?" Mag asked questioningly.

"When have Grimm ever been that coordinated before?" Blake said.

The question put the two in silence for a while.

"What about when those Beowolves attacked us in the initiation?" Mag asked.

"But Beowolves are pack hunters. Ursa, aren't really." Blake reasoned.

"Good point, and what was with the Nevermore and Deathstalker then?" Mag asked.

"That's why I feel off." Blake admitted softly.

The two of them sat in an awkward silence. Blake heard a sound behind her and stood up. She turned swiftly to see Yang standing behind them.

"What are you two doing tonight?" She asked crossing her arms.

"Talking about our trip today. Why're you up at this hour?" Blake replied.

"Saw you leave the dorm." Yang smiled.

"So you just decided to follow her to find out what she was doing." Mag asked with surprise.

"Well when you put it like that." Yang thought aloud.

Mag and Blake shared a look. Yang looked back at the two of them. Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard from across campus.

"What the hell was that?" The three of them said simultaneously.

People came out of the dorm to figure out what was going on. Blake looked around to see that Ozpin's tower had a giant hole with smoke coming out of it.

"Let's go get the others" Blake said.

They half sprinted back into the dorm to find the others trying to get through the crowd.

"Let's wait for them." Mag suggested, "I'll go tell them where we are." Mag said.

She teleported into the back of the crowd to tell the others where they were, then teleported back out to them.

"I will go find out what is going on, you guys wait for the others." Mag said before teleporting away again.

"She's too damn fast." Yang said shaking her head.

Ruby and the others met up with Blake and Yang and they proceeded to the tower. They went up to the nervous crowd of people closed in around the entrance of the tower. Mag appeared behind the group with a tear in her eye.

"Mag, what's wrong?" Pyrrha asked. Mag took a deep breath and broke the news to them

"Ozpin, is dead." Mag half whispered with a hint of disbelief getting a questioning response from everyone.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rusty shouted

"Goodwitch won't let anyone near the body, but the body is defiantly Ozpin from what I saw." Mag sobbed. Yang looked over some of the crowd to see the half charred Ozpin lying on the ground.

"It's Ozpin." Teal said "The body is fresh enough to have a hint of aura left in him."

Blake felt a wave of sorrow fall over her. If it weren't for Ozpin, she wouldn't be in Beacon and would likely be lying dead in a jail cell by now. But that man lay before her dead. His body was mangled from the fall and was charred by some explosion that must have occurred. Blake gagged from the smell of burned skin that flowed into her nostrils...

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Earlier**

 **Ozpin's Office**

* * *

"I do not believe that this much military defence would be necessary James" Ozpin said to the hologram version of Ironwood standing before him.

"What about what Qrow said about their forces?" He asked

"If they do have that large of a force on standby, then we will ready your forces. Until they show themselves, we shouldn't cause panic by transporting hundreds of soldiers to Vale from Atlas." Ozpin replied and picked up his coffee cup.

"I understand that Ozpin, but we need to act." Ironwood said.

"If I may sir, the army would give a feel of safety for the spectators of the Vytal tournament." A voice came from behind Ironwood.

"One moment Schnee, but thank you for your suggestion." He said to the girl who had appeared in the hologram behind him.

He gestured the girl away and went back to the conversation.

"I will come by with my students for the festival." Ironwood said before ending the conversation with Ozpin.

Ozpin gave a sigh.

"Well that's just great." Goodwitch said in disgust

"He means well but he cannot see the trouble of bringing a piece of his army to another city." Ozpin said taking a sip of coffee

"Maybe, anyway a package came for you today." Goodwitch said handing him the package.

"Thank you Glynda, you may go now if you wish." Ozpin said taking the package from her.

"Alright I will see you tomorrow." She said and walked out of the room.

"Let's see what we have here." Ozpin thought taking the wrapping off of the package. He took the card out and read it.

" _Queen Takes King_ " The message read.

It caught Ozpin's eye and he opened the package. The package contained a bomb, and it was counting down.

"Queen takes King, Checkmate." Ozpin gave a smile. "New game?" Ozpin asked before the bomb exploded.

He felt the blast hit him and his aura vaporize. He was sent out of the window of the tower and waited for death to embrace him. He felt himself hit the floor then there was darkness.

* * *

 **Present time**

* * *

Blake sat down on the edge of the crowd. She didn't want to come to the terms of Ozpin actually dying.

"Everyone go back to your dorms tonight. There will be no classes tomorrow." The voice of Goodwitch rang out .

Everyone decided to follow that order as most couldn't stand the smell of burning flesh that lingered in the air. Everyone went back to their respective dorms. Team STRM and JNPR went to team RWBY's dorm to chat. As they entered, Blake just lay on her bed looking up at the ceiling.

"Does anyone want to say something?" Mag asked.

Nobody answered that question.

"Just out of curiosity, how many of you are here because of something that he did?" Mag asked getting the attention of most in the room.

The people raising their hands included Ruby, Blake, Jaune, Teal, and Steel.

"Well, I don't feel any better." Mag said sitting down on Blake's bed.

"Your intentions were in the right place." Blake said putting a hand on Mag's shoulder.

"Yeah, she is right." Pyrrha agreed.

"So what do we do now?" Rusty asked

"Well logically, we should just wait and see what happens." Weiss declared, earning an odd look from most of the people in the room, "But since we don't think logically anymore, we should probably look for clues about who did this to Ozpin." This earned a nod from everyone in the room.

"That's a good a plan as any." Blake agreed.

"Okay, we will start tomorrow. We will head out into the city and search for any clues." Ruby said.

"Alright, we will stay in our respective teams and search." Jaune said

"Sounds like a plan." Steel agreed.

"Right, we will head out tomorrow. Everyone should go and get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow." Ruby said ending the meeting.

The other two teams left the room and headed for their dorms to retire for the evening. They all lay in their beds, but no matter how hard any of them tried, nobody could get a wink of sleep after what they had just seen. Everyone just lay in their beds, waiting and trying to sleep.

* * *

Blake got up after about an hour of sleep. In the White Fang, she had seen a lot of death, but nothing like this. That man saved her life and she couldn't even repay him for it. Blake felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She looked around the room to find her teammates asleep.

"Nice to see that they got some sleep." Blake said under her breath.

She put her head back down and decided to try to remember some of her good memories of the White Fang. She remembered her and Adam's promotion to the spec ops team. That was one of the better days. She was looked at like a hero when they came home from an operation. Those were the days, the days that the White Fang turned from faunus, to monsters. Blake brought herself back to reality and shook off the memories.

Blake took another glance around the room to see Weiss stirring in her bed. It looked as though she was having a nightmare. Blake Stood up to walk over to her. Weiss was defiantly having a nightmare about something. Blake shook Weiss awake and she jumped up from her sleep.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Blake said allowing Weiss to sit up "It looked like you were having a nightmare." Weiss put her hands on her forehead.

"Yeah, it's a long story." Weiss shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Blake asked.

"Are you familiar with the White Fang?" Weiss asked. Blake replied with a nod "Well, let's just say that they didn't get along with my family." Weiss said.

Keeping a poker face, Blake pretended to bluntly know what she was talking about. Her experience in the matter though was more than she wanted Weiss to know about.

"Is this why you are always on edge around Steel?" Blake asked. Weiss gave a nod and the two sat in silence for a moment.

"Well, I won't be going to sleep again so I'm going to go change." Weiss said walking over to the closet.

"I'll come too." Blake decided. The two grabbed their day clothing and walked off toward the washroom. They changed, and walked back mostly in silence. When they came back into the room Yang and Ruby were up.

"Hey guys." Ruby said unenthusiastically.

"I got a message on my scroll saying to meet in the auditorium at ten O'clock." Yang said catching most everyone's attention.

"What time is it now?" Blake asked

"Seven thirty." Weiss replied.

"Looks like we have some time on our hands." Yang said.

"Well, what do we do until then?" Weiss asked

"My vote is to go to the cafeteria and wait." Ruby said

"Mine too." Blake agreed.

"Looks like we are going there." Yang said.

"Race you" Ruby said trying to lighten the mood.

"Your on sis." Yang replied happily.

They ran out of the room where Jaune and Pyrrha were standing. The Ruby and Yang nearly crashed into the two of them.

"Whoa, easy there." Pyrrha joked.

"What's the hurry?" Jaune asked.

"Yang and I are racing to the cafeteria, I gotta go, bye." Ruby said and took off toward the cafeteria with Yang close behind.

"Those two never change." Pyrrha smiled.

"Yeah, but you get used to them pretty fast." Blake said.

"We'll see you guys in the cafeteria if you decide to come." Weiss said.

"Okay, see you guys later." Jaune said sending a wink Weiss's was.

Weiss rolled her eyes and started toward the cafeteria. The two of them walked out of the building and into the cafeteria to find Ruby and Yang catching their breath near the entrance.

"Who won?" Blake asked, playing along.

"I did." Ruby smiled

"What? No way, that was a tie at best." Yang protested.

"Fine, it was a tie." Ruby said letting her mood drop. They all sat down around the table.

"Well, let's see who else shows up now." Yang said.

On cue, Teal walked into the room followed by Mag. Everyone gave Yang a look.

"How do you do that?" Weiss asked

"Luck I guess." Yang shrugged.

Teal and Mag walked up to team RWBY.

"How are you guys holding up?" Mag asked sounding slightly depressed.

"Okay, I guess." Blake said.

"I'm pretty sure that no one got a good night's sleep." Weiss pointed out clearly annoyed that she hadn't.

"Yeah I guess." Teal sighed taking a seat. Mag sat down next to him.

"Where are the other two?" Yang asked

"Rusty is still sleeping somehow, and Steel said that he had to meet one of his friends from his old school." Teal said readjusting himself in the seat.

"Big surprise for Rusty." Mag said rolling her eyes. Ruby gave a smile toward her.

"Oh well, who's Steel meeting?" Yang asked

"Don't know, he didn't say aside from that he wouldn't be back until later." Teal said

"Oh well, it's his business." Blake said but didn't entirely feel that way.

"Want to get something to eat." Yang asked. The group agreed and went to go get the breakfast that was being served. They picked up toast, eggs, and bacon being served and went back to their seats. They dived into their meals. Blake wasn't eating, she didn't have an appetite after what she had seen yesterday.

"Blake, are you okay? You aren't eating much." Ruby said with concern in her voice

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just not hungry." Blake half-lied.

She was actually not really hungry, but it was mostly to do with the fact of Ozpin's death.

"If you need to talk to someone, feel free to do so." Ruby said

"I will if I need too." She replied.

Rusty walked into the cafeteria and went straight for the food. He got some bacon and eggs, then walked back to the group and sat down beside Mag.

"Hey Rusty." said Ruby cheerfully.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He replied.

"Nothing too much right now, we are just kind of keeping low." Weiss stated.

"Well, that's a little boring." Rusty said taking a bite of his toast.

Ruby stood up to put her tray away. She gestured toward everyone else's trays. Weiss, Yang and Teal gave their trays to her and she walked to go put the trays away. Mag quickly finished and took off after Ruby.

"Blake, are you sure you're okay?" Teal asked Blake who was still just sitting there.

The question brought her back to reality.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She said coyly.

"You don't seem fine." Teal replied.

"I get that Ozpin is gone now, is that it" Yang asked.

"Partly, I guess." Blake replied.

She stood up with her tray and went off toward the garbage.

"Leave her to her thoughts I guess." Yang shook her head.

Ruby and Mag came back to the table and sat down. They sat in an awkward silence for a while until Blake came back.

"I'm going to go back to the dorm." She told them

"Oh, okay. See you at the assembly." Ruby said holding a straight face.

Blake walked off and the group went to talking again

"Do you think that she is okay?" Teal asked

"Well, based on the time that we have known her, how much we know about her, and the fact that she likes being anti-social, yes I personally think that she is okay." Weiss listed off

"I guess that is true, but she just seems off right now." Yang replied

"I think it's Ozpin." Teal pointed out

"What makes you say that?" Weiss asked

"She went from being partly anti-social, to near fully antisocial, over the course of one day, after he passed away." Teal replied

"I guess, do you think it's bothering her?" Rusty asked

"It's bothering all of us Rusty." Mag replied

"I know, but it seems like it's bothering her the most." Rusty defended.

"I know, we can all see that." Mag scolded.

"You guys, break it up, we don't need a fight right now." Teal interfered.

"Teal is right, we don't want an argument on today of all days" Weiss said sounding annoyed.

Mag and Rusty gave each other a look and rolled their eyes at the same time. Teal decided that this was the best it was going to get.

"Okay what time is it?" He asked rhetorically.

"Not time to go yet." Weiss said.

"And that is coming from a girl who loves being early all of the time." Yang added getting a slight glare from Weiss.

Yang smiled back at Weiss who rolled her eyes.

"How early would we be? I'm getting bored." Ruby sulked twiddling her thumbs.

"About an hour and a half early" Weiss replied .

"Alright, well I'm going to go back to the dorm" Ruby said.

And walked out of the cafeteria before anyone could object. She walked into the dorm room building and took the stairs up to the second floor. She took her first left and walked into the room. Blake was lying on her bed and was curled into a ball.

"Hey Blake." Ruby said walking over to her own bunk.

Ruby was a little concerned when Blake never replied. She looked up at her and she was still sitting there.

"Blake, are you alright?" She asked with concern. Blake looked up at her and whipped away a tear. She placed herself at the edge of her bed and gave a reply.

"I'm alright, It's just-" Blake paused.

"What is it?" Ruby walked over to Blake's bed and sat down beside her. Blake wiped another tear away.

"I owed that man more than any of you know." Blake sobbed

"In what way?" Ruby asked sounding confused.

"Let's just say that I got involved with the wrong people, and then he took me in and to Beacon. If it weren't for him then I wouldn't be here today." The two of them sat in silence for a while.

"I know how it feels to lose someone who you owe a lot to." Ruby started, Blake gave her a look. "How do you think I got to Beacon two entire years early?" Ruby said.

"I know Ruby, but I never owed something to anyone really before." Blake admitted.

"Well, if her brought you here, then it was for a reason, all that you can do now is try to do your absolute best with what you can do. Ruby smiled at her friend. Blake gave a nod.

"You're right Ruby." Blake agreed.

"Come on, let's go, it's almost that time now." Ruby said standing up.

Ruby helped Blake onto her feet. They walked out of their dorm and to the auditorium. They walked in and took their seats next to their teammates who had already found their seats. They awaited the ceremony to start, it finally did when Goodwitch stepped onto the stage.

"Good morning, if you are unfamiliar with what transpired last night, allow me to fill in the details." She took a deep breath and kept a level head. "Last night, Professor Ozpin passed away. His death was not an accident, someone had given him a package that contained a bomb. The identity of the bomber has not been identified at this time. However we have a small lead, someone calling themselves Queen." Goodwitch allowed the students to say what they needed quickly before trying to go back to her speech. "Now then, I am hereby allowing for the rest of the week to be cancelled in light of this tragic event." Goodwitch finished and walked off of the stage.

"Well, now what?" Rusty asked

"Let's go back to our dorm and find Steel." Teal replied

"Well, I'm going back to our dorm" Blake said

"You guys are invited to join us if you want." Teal said earning a nod from Mag

"Sounds good, we will come by in a bit." Ruby said. Team STRM went back to their dorm and RWBY went to theirs. Blake stayed in the room and Weiss went to the library. Ruby and Yang went to team STRM's room. Pyrrha, Nora, and Jaune were already in the room talking to the other's when Ruby and Yang arrived. They sat there talking with each other into the day. Blake was sitting in her bunk still thinking about last night.

"Why can't I get him out of my head?" Blake asked anonymously.

Blake decided to head into the town to clear her head. She left the dorm room and headed toward the docks. She boarded a transport ship and it took off for the kingdom of Vale.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Okay, another one bites the dust…_

 _Rusty: Whatever, your an ass._

 _Me: Really Rusty? Really?_

 _RedMoose:_ How could you! I liked Ozpin, you ass. *grabs C4 sets timer for 30 seconds and throws at his face.*

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Well, this is certainly a break from canon.**

 _Me: Really, I had no Idea… I'm pretty sure it broke from canon a while back there._

 _RedMoose:_ Ya don't say.

 _Me: No I typed it._

 _RedMoose:_ Smart ass.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Well, I'm going to sleep. See ya' later, ya' Canadian tards. *Leaves***

 _Ruby: Umm, what's Canada?_

 _RedMoose:_ Ruby just don't ask, go back to Remnant.

KAAAAABOOOOOOOOO- *C4 thrown at Spartan25798's face explodes.

 _Mag_ : No more explosions, please for the love of **Nox** okay.

 _RedMoose_ : Too late, someone specials on their way.

Yang: And who would that be?

 _RedMoos_ e: Shhhhhhh, spoilers. Now, where's my damn pen.

Me: _Exactly, find out later, bye bye._


	15. Long Time Coming

_A.N.: Too LONG. I have waited too long to write this. The rewrites are out now and *some* key things have been added. Anywho. RWBY volume 3… yeah on to the story._

 _Mag:_ This is a horrible story right now.

 _Me: Hey, at least I'm trying to make a good story._

 _Rusty:_ Well, congrats on failing to do so.

 _RedMoose:_ GOD DAMN IT SPARTAN25798! . MY. FUCKING. PEN!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **We're here too.**

 _Me: Oh, and these guy's are here. If I were you, I would re-read the previous chapters to understand WTF is going on._

Yang: Or if you just came from those, don't bother.

 _Me: Let's just get on with it._

* * *

 **Long Time Coming**

* * *

Mag felt distraught, she couldn't stop thinking about Ozpin. The way his body was mangled from that fall. The pure thought alone had been keeping her up for the past few weeks, it was really putting a strain on her mind and body. Mag was sitting on her bed when she heard someone open the door to the dorm room.

"Mag, are you okay?" The voice of Steel asked from behind her.

She was just staring at the wall trying to get what had happened out of her brain.

"Mag?" Steel asked again. This got a response out of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine Steel. Why do you ask?" She lied bluntly.

"Well, you haven't been eating much, after classes you usually just come back in here and do who knows what. I can also tell that you aren't getting enough sleep lately." Steel walked up to her bedside and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know Steel. I feel like I'm seeing ghosts and I have no idea how to describe it." She gave a sigh as Steel sat down on her bed.

"Look, I am leader of this team, and it hurts to see my teammates down in the dumps." Mag looked up at him.

"You can tell me what's wrong, you know." Steel said; Mag gave a nod in response.

"Look, if this is about Ozpin, I'm really sorry that you had to witness that." Steel must have struck something inside of her because a tear started to roll down her cheek.

"It is." Mag replied "I just keep seeing him just laying there."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Steel asked

Even though every fiber of her well being was screaming yes, she politely declined his offer. Steel sighed.

"Well if you do, I won't be far away." Steel stood up and walked toward the door. "Magenta, you know what they say, don't stare into the abyss to long, or it can start to stare back" Steel walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Magenta lay back on her bed and started staring at the ceiling.

"I've killed Grimm before and I haven't had second thoughts even once, so why is this death sticking with me so much?" Mag thought, frustrated with herself.

She just decided to think happy thoughts about her family. Her younger brother, her mom, her dad, and the brief memory of her lost brother. She let the memories fill her up; and for the first time in a long time, she actually felt happy.

* * *

"Well, how is she?" Rusty asked as Steel walked into the cafeteria.

"She's okay, just needs some time." Steel took a seat beside Teal to where he had left his food.

He picked up the apple and began to eat it.

"Well, I hope that it's soon. The dance is coming up and all. It would suck if she missed it." Ruby said earning a nod from the group.

Everyone was eating unusually quiet right today. Even after the events almost a month ago, people would still laugh and chat as usual. But today for some reason was an exception. Rusty stood up and put his tray away.

"See you guys later, I'm going back to the dorm room" He said.

Rusty went out of the cafeteria and into the open air.

It was a cool evening that night. Rusty gazed up at the sky. It was his favorite time of day right now, when the sun was setting bathing everything in a warm orange glow. He decided to take the 'scenic route' back and passed by the CCT. The towers observatory was still being repaired and the hint of smoke was still lingering in the air somehow. He kept on walking pushing disturbing thoughts out of his mind and eventually wound up at the dorms.

Rusty opened the door to find Mag staring up at the ceiling. She looked down at him and gave an acknowledging head gesture. Rusty smiled and went over to his bed. He sat down and pulled out Fine Polveroso. He took out a cloth and a small bag of tools and began to clean the weapon.

"I always find it Ironic when you clean that thing." Mag said looking at him.

"And why is that?" Rusty played along.

"Oh you know, rust usually doesn't clean." She chuckled.

Rusty gave her a look.

"You really know how to raze spirits."

"Really?" Mag asked sitting up "Wait, you mean with a 'z' don't you?" She accused.

"Maybe. Just a bit." Rusty admitted. Mag picked up her pillow and tossed it at him. Just as it was about to hit him, he snagged it out of midair.

"Hey, be careful." Rusty said tossing the pillow back.

Mag caught it and placed it back on her bed. She turned back as the door opened and Teal walked in the room.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. What about you?" Mag replied

"Same." There was an awkward silence for a moment until Teal brought up another question

"Dance is coming up, you guys going with anyone?"

"Not that I know of." Rusty said

"I don't know if I'm going." Mag said glumly

"Why not?" Rusty asked.

"Just don't feel like it." Mag replied

"Well, that's not fun." Rusty chuckled

"Here's an idea, why don't you two go together." Teal suggested

"What?" Mag asked slightly annoyed.

"I'm good with that. Do you want to?" Rusty exclaimed with joy.

"I don't know Rusty." Mag said and gave a deep sigh.

The silence filled the room.

"I'll make you a deal. One dance, then if you want to, you can leave" Rusty proposed.

Mag gave it a hard thought.

"Okay, one dance, that's it." She agreed.

They both shook hands to seal the deal. Teal simply smiled at the two in front of him.

"Teal, you got a second?" Rusty said getting up.

"Sure." Teal gave a smug smile.

The two walked out into the hall leaving Mag in the room. The continued down the hall until they reached the stairwell.

"So, why did you hook me up with her." Rusty asked curiously.

"Don't be so thick, it's really obvious that you have a thing for her." Rusty gave him a look but nodded in agreement.

"So does this mean that I-"

"Owe me, yeah." Teal said.

"Okay, okay fine." Rusty said "Favour for a favour thing right?"

"You know how we work. We have lived together for what, twelve years now?" Teal thought back to when the two of them basically lived together.

When Teals parents decided to move to Vale, Rusty followed them. The two of them were like peanut butter and Jelly. The two of them walked back and into the room.

"Hey Teal, Where is Steel?" Rusty asked noticing that their leader was the only one not in the dorm room

"He ran into Vale not long after you left. Said something about formal wear if I remember correctly." Teal said sitting down on his bed. The door opened and Steel walked inside.

"Well, for going to Vale and back, that was quick." Rusty exclaimed.

"Yeah, got some nice formal wear too." He pulled up the bag and took the air compressed bag out to reveal a nice black coat with a silver undershirt.

"How much did that cost?" Mag asked from her bed

"Well, the guy owed me some lien and I decided that I may as well call him out on it. I only had to pay thirty lien for this." Steel replied

"How many favors did he owe you?" Rusty asked in disbelief.

"A fair few." Steel replied.

"I'll say." Rusty said shaking his head.

"You got an arrangement Romeo?" Mag asked slyly .

"One in mind." Steel replied smugly

"Do tell." Mag slyly said

"Nah, that would ruin the surprise." Steel said.

"Aww, you're no fun" Mag pouted, the expression was that of a sad puppy dog.

Steel rolled his eyes and placed the suit in the closet. He walked over to his bed and sat down.

"What about you guys?" He asked cheerfully.

"Don't know yet.I haven't made up my mind on if I should take someone or not." Teal gave a shrug.

"Rusty is getting _one,_ lucky dance with me." Mag rolled her eyes at the thought.

Rusty gave her a smug look and she glared at him.

"How did he do that?" Steel asked dumbfounded.

Magenta glared at Teal who had a sly smile on his face. Steel understood and gave a chuckle

"I'm going to be right back, I need to find someone." Steel said walking over to the door.

"That wouldn't be your date would it?" Mag asked with a coy smile.

"Possibly. See you guys in a bit." Steel walked out of the dorm and to the library.

He took a quick glance around the room and found the girl he was looking for.

"Hey Blake." He called walking up to her.

She turned around and gave him a soft smile.

"Hey Steel, what's up?" She asked marking her book.

"So, I was wondering, maybe you would like to go to the dance?" Steel replied.

Blake gave him an odd look.

"Why me?" Blake asked curiously.

"Well, you seem kinda down lately, so I thought that maybe you would like to go as friends." Steel gave a smile as the girl thought over the choice.

"You know what? Sure." Blake smiled back.

"Great. See you then." Steel said

"I guess so." Blake replied

* * *

 **The Dance a few Days Later**

* * *

"Oh my gosh, you look beautiful!" Yang squealed upon seeing her sister walk into the room.

"Weiss and I need to have a talk. How on the face of Remnant does she fight in one of these?" Ruby asked scratching her head.

Yang gave a laugh and welcomed her inside.

"Hey, Yang." Mag said walking into the room.

"Oh! I didn't know you were coming. Why didn't you tell me?" Yang asked, leaving Ruby.

Mag was wearing a shin length, form fitting dress with a strap over her left shoulder, colored a deep purple that reminded Yang of the night sky. It had a small sash that went around her right shoulder and connected with the dress on her back to keep it in place.

"I'm only here for one dance." She replied. Yang's face instantly dropped into a pout.

"Only one?" Yang repeated. "With who?"

"Rusty. Both him and Teal persuaded me to come." Yang gave a chuckle at this remark.

"I'll let you know if I see him." Yang said welcoming her in.

Mag walked over to the punch bowl and poured a cup. She turned around to see Blake walk up to the punch bowl as well.

"Hi, Blake." She greeted.

"Hey." Blake replied.

"Are you here by yourself?" Mag asked trying to strike up conversation

"Well, Steel said that we should go together as friends. It didn't sound like to bad of an idea, so I went with it." She said pouring some punch into a cup.

"What about you." Blake asked.

"Rusty, with a bit of help from Teal, persuaded me to go with him for one dance." Mag took a sip of punch and cringed.

Now she remembered why she didn't like punch. The taste didn't sit well with her.

Steel walked into the ballroom wearing the suit that he picked out the other day and walked up to the two of them.

"How are you lovely ladies this evening?" He asked.

"I'm okay, nice outfit." Blake complemented.

"Thanks." Steel replied.

"I will never understand how that only cost you thirty lein" Mag said shaking her head.

Blake gave a questioning look at her.

"Favours, collect enough, you can do a lot." Steel shrugged.

"Would you like to dance, Blake?" he said holding out his hand.

Blake gave a nod and the two walked onto the dance floor.

"Mag, why are you here?" She whispered to herself.

"That's a good question?" a voice behind her asked. She turned around to see the face of Cardin Winchester standing behind her.

"Oh great" She whispered under her breath.

"Couldn't help but notice that you were standing here all by your lonesome." He said leaning on the wall beside him.

"Just waiting for my date to arrive, _whenever that will be_ " Mag put on a fake smile.

"Oh, and who might that be?" Cardin asked getting a little closer.

"Rusty." Mag replied taking a step away from him.

"Who is that? Your boyfriend?" Cardin chuckled.

"Can you just leave me alone?" Mag asked turning her back to him.

"Oh come on Mag, one dance." Cardin sneered.

"Just leave me alone." Mag insisted.

"And why on Remnant should I do tha-" Cardin felt a hand on his shoulder turn him around

"Because I'm her friend, and I don't like it when people bother my friends" The voice of Yang said.

Mag turned around to see Yang pick up Cardin and put him down behind her. Cardin glared at her before turning to walk away.

"Thanks Yang." Mag said letting a tear run down her eye.

"No problem. I'll keep you company until Rusty gets here." Yang said pounding her fists together.

"That's thoughtful but you don't have to." Mag replied.

"Yeah, but I want to." Yang said.

Mag rolled her eyes and the two started talking.

They spoke about the upcoming tournament, their first mission which wasn't until after the festival, their teammates, and a whole bunch of other small talk. Rusty walked up to them.

"Sorry I'm late, I read somewhere that the dance started nine not eight" The two girls chuckled. "Well, would you like to have our dance now?" Rusty asked.

"Sure." Mag turned to Yang who shoed her away.

The two walked onto the dance floor right as the song _Wings_ started to play. Rusty and Mag started dancing the two step to the rhythm of the music. Rusty looked as though there wasn't a trouble on the world. They set themselves up for Mag to do a twirl. As Mag began to twirl, a loud crash was heard and the music stopped. There was a human sized hole in the roof and everyone in the room turned to see what looked like a Huntsman on his back lying on what used to be the sound system.

"How the hell did I fall for that?" The man said starting to get up.

"Nice Pun!" Yang called out from amongst the crowd.

"Elm, you are one giant asshole." He gave a stretch and began walking to the door.

"Clancy Aruna!" The voice of Goodwitch echoed across the entire room

"Um, Hey Glynda." The man practically curled up into a ball at the sound of her voice

"What in the world happened?" She demanded.

"I will tell you, let's go get the rest of my team." The two hunters walked out of the room, mystifying everyone.

Yang walked up to the sound system to salvage anything. She gave a sigh and turned to the audience.

"Well, looks like the dance is over guys, sorry." She called out.

A series of bad remarks and sighs could be heard throughout the ballroom.

"Fuck" Rusty said under his breath.

Mag gave him a look and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her and turned around.

"I owe you half a dance." Mag said and then walked away.

Rusty walked over to one of the benches and sat down. A few moments later, Teal walked up to him.

"So, how did the dance go?" Teal asked.

"Oh ha ha, that man who fell from the sky interrupted the dance we were having." Rusty said defeated and Teal started laughing at that statement.

"Really? that's hilarious!" Teal said after calming down a bit.

"How is that funny?" Rusty asked sounding really pissed off

"Karma man, sometimes it wants to screw with you. Other times it saves your life." Teal smiled.

Rusty got up and started walking toward the exit.

Jaune was standing in the line to get out as Rusty walked up to him.

"Nice suit." Jaune complemented .

"You too." Rusty said trying to push his way through the crowd.

"Did things not work out with Magenta?" Jaune asked cautiously .

"Well, oh smart one, let's look at the facts shall we." Rusty said turning toward Jaune

"I am really pissed off right now after coming from the dance, A man fell from the sky and interrupted the song we were dancing too. And again, I'm really pissed off." Rusty said almost shouting.

"I'm guessing it went half well." Jaune guessed.

Rusty rolled his eyes and managed to get outside of the building. He walked back to the dorm rooms and went to get ready for the night a head. He climbed into his bed and pulled the blankets over him. He heard the door handle start to turn and heard voices behind it.

"Well, just don't mention anything, I guess." Steel said walking into the room with Teal.

"Okay." Teal agreed.

"Mention anything about what?" Rusty said remaining under the covers

"Nothing." Steel said.

Mag walked into the room and took a quick glance around. She appeared at the closet and grabbed her nightgown, she then disappeared completely out of sight.

"What's the plan for tomorrow, fearless leader?" Rusty said smugly

"Don't know. Tomorrow's Saturday, so have fun I guess." Steel replied

"Can do." Teal agreed. Rusty grunted and looked up at the ceiling.

"G'night guys." he said forcing sleep to control his mind

* * *

"Ruby, wake up"

She sat up seeing that they were in some kind of destroyed city.

"What's going on?!" Ruby asked quickly.

"Vale's under a Grimm attack, we need to get out of here" Yang said.

Suddenly, an explosion hit behind them and sent the two huntresses into the air. Ruby felt her aura shatter when she hit the ground. Suddenly, a Nevermore flew overhead and shot multiple razor sharp feathers straight at her. She felt the sudden pain surge through her body. She looked around to see all of her teammates lying on the flood with cuts and bruises. They were all not moving. She felt herself start to fade away from the battlefield. The nevermore's feather had pierced her stomach and she felt herself leave her own body. She drifted upward and closed her eyes. She suddenly felt no harm or pain at all.

"Ruby!" A voice called out.

"Ruby." It called again.

"Ruby!" She opened her eyes to see her sister's lilac eyes staring at her with worry

"Are you okay, it sounded like you were having a nightmare." She said giving her a hug

"I'm fine now. What time is it?" She asked.

"Time to get up." Yang said.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Weiss asked from below.

"Sorry Weiss, Ruby had a nightmare." Yang hopped off of Weiss's bed and walked over to get some clothes for the day.

Blake gave a yawn as she woke up.

"Hey Blake, how was your night?" Yang smiled

"It was fun. I enjoyed spending time with Steel." She replied

"What do you guys want to do today?" Ruby asked, earning silence from everyone as they thought about the question.

Weiss stood up and checked the calendar. She gave a smile and turned to the room.

"Well, today is the day students will start arriving for the Vytal Festival from around the world." Weiss said happily.

"Okay, this affects us how?" Yang asked giving a shrug

"Well, I happen to come from Atlas and that ship will be arriving today." Weiss beamed

"You want to go see some of your old friends?" Ruby asked happily.

"That's what I had in mind, yeah" Weiss agreed.

"I'm in" Ruby said

"Me too" Yang replied

"I don't feel like going into town, you guys go have fun though" Blake said pulling out a brush from her drawer.

"Aww, sour puss much?" Yang taunted, unknowingly striking fear into Blake's heart that she could have figured out that she was a faunus.

She groaned and her clothes for the day.

"Oh, I know what it is. You want to spend more time with Steel don't you?" Yang teased, Blake closed her eyes and tried to rid herself of anger.

She walked out of the room and too the bathroom to get changed.

"Yang, how do you always know how to get on peoples nerves?" She whispered to herself.

She walked out of the bathroom and walked back into the room. She put her pyjamas away and walked out of the room again

"What's with her bugging everyone all the time?" She walked into the library in hopes of finishing the book the guards gave her so long ago.

* * *

 **At Vale's Docks**

* * *

"Why didn't Blake want to come?" Ruby asked.

"Oh who knows. Hey look, there's one of the ships now." Yang replied excitedly.

Weiss examined the vessel that was arriving at the docks. It definitely had the Atlas insignia on it and It was carrying students

"This must be it" Weiss said aloud.

She walked down to the dock where students were stretching and getting off of the boat. She scanned the surroundings for any friendly faces but was having no luck.

"Who are you looking for Weiss?" Yang asked curiously

"One of my old friends, we went to different combat schools, he went to Atlas, I went to Beacon." Weiss said still scanning the area

"Wait, he?" Yang said coyly

"Oh don't' you dare start with me" Weiss said turning to Yang and putting her index finger right up to her throat.

She turned around again to look at the docks.

"So, how do you know this person?" Yang asked playfully.

"Yang, don't start this, I'm warning you." Weiss turned and glared at the blonde again

"Why, I just want to know your relation to him." Yang teased again.

Weiss turned around to scan the docks again ignoring whatever Yang had to say. Ruby was looking at all of the people coming to Vale and the outfits they were wearing; but most of all, what their weapons were.

"Can I at least get a name or what he looks like?" Yang said.

"What part about 'Stop' do you not understand?!" Weiss shouted.

"Wow Ice Queen, when did you ever yell at someone before? It hasn't even been a year yet." A male voice said to the right of them.

"Um, is that who you were looking for Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, yes it is." Weiss said stiffly, before turning to the newcomer. "Well, Brandon, how are things with you?" Weiss asked politely.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Hey, the wait is over. The chapter has finally begun and I'm sorry for leaving you guys on that ending, dick move I know. When my friend read the last chapter, apparently there was a hole in his bathroom wall when he read… that part._

 _Anyway, things are being set in motion now. I would like to thank some of my friends who have given me their O.C. team to put into the upcoming tournament (RedMoose included). I would also like to that JAC OneManBand for allowing me to use his O.C. Team JSTR. I would like to thank my beta reader rwbyfan5 for helping with the chapter revisions and the upcoming chapters even in these busy times. And one last thank you to the reader, you, for actually reading this story. Truthfully, there are better ones out there, but it makes me feel good knowing that you're actually reading this._

 _Yang:_ Long, boring, reading, bored, can I go home now.

 _Me: Fine, you know, if you don't want to read the story then don't._

 _Yang:_ But I have to make sure that you don't hurt Ruby anymore.

 _Ruby:_ I heard my name. Does someone have cookies?

 _Me: Umm, well, I don't have any on me right now. Maybe later I will_

 _Ruby:_ Aww, okay.

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***busts in with several plates of cookies* I BRING OFFERINGS TO THOSE WILLING TO PRAISE NOX!**

 _RedMoose: *_ Praises Nox*. Now give me cookies!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **COOKIES FOR YOU! *throws a whole plate of cookies at RedMoose***

 _RedMoose:_ *Catches plate and eats all the cookies and the plate in one bite* Ahh that was delicious.

 _Me: I would, but you know, I've got video games to play so… Hey, if i get games on demand for free, I'm in._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **That is one of the many things Nox offers to her followers. Also a 30-day free trial for Netflix and Hulu.**

 _Me: Hmm, decisions, decisions…._

 _Ruby:_ ALL HAIL THE GLORIOUS NOX!

 _RedMoose:_ Now back to looking for my pen!

 _Ruby:_ Wait, who's Nox?

 _RedMoose:_ Shhh don't ask questions. It's not good for you.

 _Me: Okay, I'll make up my mind in a bit, see you all in the next one._


	16. Coincidences

_**A.N.:**_ _Here's a chapter, coming ah-choo._

 _RedMoose:_ Are you getting sick?

 _Ruby: Eww, gross, germs._

 _Me: Why say things like that, I'm tota-ah-ah-choooo!_

 _RedMoose:_ If he dies, dibs on his stuff.

 _Me: No, I'm giving it to my dogs if I die._

 _RedMoose:_ Ruby do you have a pen?

 _Me: Onto the chapter before my mind breaks like the fourth wall._

 _Yang:_ Too late. *Winks then punches him in the face*

 _Me:_ _Worst, day, ever, of all time._

* * *

 **Coincidences**

* * *

"Ouch, why are you doing this Glynda? I thought we were friends!" Clancy said as he was being pulled away.

"Oh, we still are. You and your team are not excused for destroying that speaker though." She said, walking toward the landing airship.

"Well, shit." He said walking alongside her.

The Bullhead landed and shut off its engines. Suddenly loud laughter could be heard from the inside of the ship.

"OH! MY! GOD!" The man said in between breaths. "That made my day, you fucking idiot."

"Shut up Elm, you sent me flying through a roof and literally crash a party" Clancy said sounding pissed off.

"Oh, you went through the roof didn't you?" Elm asked. "Okay, I'll pay for the roof. Whatever Clancy landed on is on him though." Elm crossed his arms.

"The roof is an easy fix up. That speaker is quite complex though, even for me." Goodwitch said pulling out her scroll.

"Exactly why I will pay for the roof and Clancy can pay for the speaker." Elm put his hands on his hips and gave a wide smile.

"Go fuck yourself." Clancy said under his breath.

"Would you like to introduce me to the rest of your team?" Goodwitch said.

"Well this is Elm Zaffre." Clancy said pointing to the asshole wearing a dark green vest with a white undershirt. He was wearing a blue tie with white stripes, plus a leather sheath allowing both of his weapons to be carried. Elm gave a bow and smiled at Goodwitch setting her uneasy.

"And this is Nile Bluetide" The panther faunus with Navy Blue hair was grinning playfully. Wearing a navy robe, leather bracers, Black combat boots, black fighting pants, and a seashell necklace, he flashed a smile. His skin was well tanned. There was also a scar on the right side of his neck.

"And that's Xplit and/or Xplat Phrostburne" He pointed to the last teammate wearing a striped battle dress alternating from a scarlet red, to a white, to a sapphire blue all the way around.

She wore a scarlet knee high sock on her right leg and a sapphire one on her left. She has a necklace and a gemmed ring that appears to change colour from red to blue and vice versa. She waved shyly and took a look around the school grounds.

"You already know me" He said gesturing toward himself "We make up team ABEX (apex)."

Goodwitch gave a nod and turned "Alright you four, please follow me." They all took a look at each other and followed Goodwitch to the school.

* * *

 **Beacon Cafeteria (Next Day)**

* * *

"So, Atlas huh?" What's it like there?" Yang asked Brandon as her team, JNPR and STRM were sitting and listening to Brandon tell his stories.

"Yeah, It's nice up there, aside from freeing your ass of most days but still." Brandon joked.

"That one of the reasons I came to Vale actually." The Ice Queen piped up.

"You never were one to be fond of colder temperatures." Brandon teased.

"Irony, that's awesome." Nora half squealed.

"So, what's Atlas like, schoolwise?" Steel asked leaning forward to hear a little better.

"Well, Ironwood, our headmaster, who also just happens to run the largest military on Remnant, kinda pushes people to become a more militarized force rather than a hunter. It's all your choice though if you join the army's special division." He said leaning back.

"Wait, so Ironwood recruits huntsman into the army?" Ren asked.

"It's entirely up to the person if they want to join." Brandon defended. "I'm not one for military personally. So, what are things like here?"

"Alright, I guess." Weiss said taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, I'm going to be here for the next few months, you guys could show me around." Brandon suggested.

"Okay, but first, you have to try the pineapple here. They are so good!" Yang said standing up.

She ran over and grabbed a full one. Two men walked into the cafeteria and stood at the entrance.

"Excuse me, everyone, could I have your attention?" One of the men said.

"Hey, I remember you, you're the guy who fell through the roof and crashed the party." A voice rang out.

"Don't blame me for that!" The other guy said.

"What? Elm, that was entirely your fault."

"You're the one who fell through the roof."

"Because you blasted me out of a fricking airship!" A quiet laughter echoed around the cafeteria.

"Anyway, I would just like to inform all of you, that Hunter teams from around the world will be arriving at Beacon as an extra security force for the tournament." Silent murmurs swelled around again before they spoke again.

"This is just a heads up so that everyone doesn't panic when random huntsmen and huntresses start arriving in bulk."

"Lastly, I would just like to say that we won't interfere with your day to day activities. Just go about your day as regularly." Clancy said with a smile.

"Well, that was unexpected" Brandon piped up.

"Okay, Brandon, try this pineapple it's super awesome." Yang said holding it up.

Suddenly, a staff-like weapon flew through the air and snagged the pineapple before Brandon could take it. There was an explosion at the far end of the cafeteria and burnt pineapple bits fell from the sky.

"Elm!" Clancy shouted.

"All pineapples must **Die**!" He defended.

"Okay, I get that you hate pineapples, but still." Clancy walked over to the teams to apologize.

"Is he okay, mentally?" Yang asked half traumatized from what just happened.

"Well, he's mentally stable, he just really hate pineapples I guess." Clancy explained.

"This is going to be a fun few weeks isn't it?" Brandon said excitedly.

"This? This is Beacon on a normal day." Yang joked hitting Brandon playfully on the arm.

"I'll leave you at that." Clancy said turning toward the door.

On the way out he hit Elm on the back of the head. The bell rang, symbolising the start of class.

"Come on you guys." Ruby said running toward the door of the cafeteria.

"Oh, great, Grimm studies." Weiss rolled her eyes at the thought.

"Why, what's so bad about Grimm studies?" Brandon asked.

"Well, let's just say that the professor is a bombastic storyteller." Rusty described.

* * *

"Now then, time for a story." Port said earning a sigh from most of the class.

"How do you sit through all this everyday? Brandon asked in an intense disbelief.

"Now then, one day, my family and I were out on a hunt in Mistral. When suddenly, we were surrounded by a variety of Ursa, and Beowolves. It was just the four of us, and then the Grimm charged. I fought them back and allowed everyone to escape with their lives and just barely with mine. When we arrived back home, any Grimm that were following us were mowed down by our security team and myself. Wave after wave of Grimm were surrounding the house-" Port was interrupted by a voice at the back of the room.

"Wow, there were so many things wrong with that story, uncle." The voice of Ryder Pennyworth said.

"Well, this is to the best of my memory." Port defended.

"First of all, we all retreated together and nobody was injured. When the supposed wave after wave of Grimm came, they were so scared to follow anymore that most of them ran off. Also while we were running, I'm pretty sure that I saved your skin at least once." Ryder gave a smile and everyone started laughing at the beat red professor.

"Well then, your memory is certainly better than mine. Alright, back to the lesson at hand." Port continued with the actual lesson at hand without being sidetracked for the rest of the class.

For once it was actually engaging.

* * *

Blake was sitting at a desktop computer in the library searching for clues or hints regarding their late headmaster. She had been searching for well over two hours after classes had ended and it was in the middle of lunch at the time.

"Hey Blake" Steel said behind her holding a plate of food.

"You haven't been eating much so I thought I would bring you something." Steel smiled and put the plate of salmon in front of her.

"Thanks" Blake smiled back.

"You know, you shouldn't over work yourself, it isn't healthy."

"I guess you're right" Blake stood up and gave him a hug.

"Blake?" Steel sounded confused.

"You're a really good friend Steel, I hope we can keep this bond." Blake broke the hug and smiled at him.

"Well, don't work too hard, alright?" Steel turned around and gave her a wave, she waved back and sat back down. She pulled up a new page and continued to work on her little project.

* * *

"Well Brandon, how is Atlas?" Weiss asked the boy sitting across from her.

"Atlas is alright I guess." Brandon said looking a bit distraught.

"You know, I haven't even met your teammates yet." Weiss smiled taking a sip of her coffee.

"I don't think you want to meet them honestly." Brandon chuckled at the thought.

"Well, what team are you on? Are you the leader or what?" Weiss asked impatiently.

"Our team name is ember, E-M-B-R." he spelled out.

Weiss nodded and they sat in silence for a moment before hearing a commotion behind Brandon. Velvet, a rabbit faunus was once again being picked on by the school's bully, Cardin Winchester.

"What's with that guy?" Brandon asked Weiss.

"Cardin, he's just an asshole." Weiss rolled her eyes and took a look back at Velvet.

She couldn't help but feel sympathy for the faunus. That's when a man, if she caught his name correctly was Elm, walked up to the group picking on Velvet.

"What's going on over here." Elm asked calmly.

Cardin turned pale, he stuttered trying to come up with an excuse.

"Oh, um, we we-we're just, um, chatting with our good friend Velvet here." Cardin smiled out of fear of the huntsman standing before him.

"Chatting with, or picking on?" Elm asked causing Cardin to go even more pale.

"The second one." Velvet piped up.

They all looked at her angrily. She shrunk up to try to make herself smaller.

"Well, high five for picking on a faunus." Elm raised his hand causing everyone's jaws to drop.

Cardin gave a smile and raised his hand for a high five as well. They swung at each other, but as contact was made, Cardin was sent halfway across the cafeteria. Elm started laughing and the rest of team CRDL gave a look of horror.

"Now then, leave her alone or you guys are next." Team CRDL ran to get their leader and booked it out of the room.

"God I love my semblance." Elm looked down a Velvet "Care to get up?" Elm asked reaching out to the scared faunus.

She took his hand and got up.

"T-thanks mister." Velvet said shyly.

"No problem, but you might want to stay closer to your teammates." Elm suggested.

"I'll be sure to do that." Velvet said running off.

"Well, that was, um, something." Brandon said surprised.

"Yeah, people here are pretty nice; aside from that team." Weiss stated proudly.

"Most of the first years at Atlas are nice too. Although, as they go on they tend to feel different and start to progress into a militarized lifestyle a bit. Usually, the teams where that happens, usually join up with the special forces." Brandon gave a sigh and took a sip of coffee.

"It's getting late, we should head back." Weiss said looking at the clock in the cafeteria.

'Yeah, see you tomorrow, hopefully." Brandon stood up and started walking toward the door.

"It was nice to see you again." Weiss said as the left the room.

"You too." Brandon said.

"I'm going to the library so I will see you later." Weiss walked off in the opposite direction as him and continued to the library. She wanted to find Blake and see if she could help figure out what had happened to Ozpin. She found the large building and entered it to find it almost entirely empty She walked over to her teammate who was researching on the computer.

"Hey Blake." Weiss smiled.

"Hey." She replied back.

"Can I help with anything?" Weiss asked taking a glance at what she was working on.

"Actually yes. You know dust better than anyone I know." Blake complemented.

"I guess, I grew up around the stuff." Weiss said.

"Well, how much burn dust would it take to cause an explosion the size that was in Ozpin's office?" she asked. Weiss thought about it and came up with an answer.

"It would be about the size of a standard travel cylinder." Weiss concluded.

"That's what I thought, that's what's stumping me." Blake looked back at her work.

"The dust compartment was only about a quarter of the size." Blake looked at the screen blankly.

"I've heard of compacting dust to make it more powerful but it's incredibly dangerous and it takes a lot of the same dust." Weiss thought and she didn't know anybody who had done that sort of thing before.

"There has been a string of dust robberies lately." Blake stated. "Didn't Ruby say that she foiled a dust robbery and that's why she's here?" Weiss and Blake both looked at each other and Blake shutdown the computer she was working on. They hurried back to their dorm where both Ruby and Yang were talking.

"Ruby!" Weiss panted from the slight adrenaline rush.

"What, what is it? Am I in trouble?" Ruby asked curling up a bit.

"No, didn't you say that you stopped a dust robbery to get into Beacon?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, that Torchwick guy was trying to rob the place and I kicked his butt. Why do you ask?" Both Weiss and Blake took a glance at each other.

"Is this about Ozpin?" Yang asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Yeah, I think that we found out who did it. now all we need is a why and how." Blake said.

"The plot thickens." Yang smiled.

"So, any ideas on what we should do now?" Ruby asked.

"I think the best course of action right now would be to find out where the stuff is going too. Until then, it's not much to go on right now." Blake said.

"I can check the Schnee records tomorrow to check for any other dust robberies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss smiled.

"Alright, sounds good." Ruby said. "Let's all get some shut eye, we should inform Jaune and Steel's teams when we can." Everyone agreed and got some shut eye.

* * *

"Morning everyone!" Steel gave a stretch to get rid of the grogginess he was experiencing.

"Good morning. Everyone excited for the upcoming tournament?" Rusty asked happily.

"Are you kidding? I was born ready for this." Mag replied.

"What should we do today? Go train out in the forest again?" Steel asked.

'Last time we did that, Ruby almost ended up without a leg." Teal reminded them of the gruesome sight.

"Yeah, let's not do that." Rusty decided. There was a knock on the door and Teal walked up to answer it. The door opened to the sight of Ruby smiling.

"Hey guys, good news, we might have found a clue as to what happened to Ozpin!" Ruby said excitedly.

"That's good news." Steel smiled.

"So Ruby, what did you and your teammates find out." Teal asked calmly.

"Well first of all, we think that this Torchwick guy at least supplied the attack on Beacon due to all of the dust store robberies lately. Secondly, he is the only one seen at most of the robberies thus far." Team STRM gave her words some thought.

"Okay, dust was used in the attack, that's obvious. How does that like it to the Torchwick guy?" Mag asked.

"Blake and Weiss are the ones who figured it all out. Weiss is out right now so if you want more information, I guess you should talk with Blake."Ruby said scratching her head.

"Alright, sounds good, what's our next move?" Steel asked.

"Weiss is out right now getting any information about recent dust robberies that she can find in the Schnee archives. When she gets back, we will decide our next move." Ruby explained.

"When is she gonna be back then?"

"From now till about ten." Ruby replied to Teal "I'd say that we should all meet in RWBY's dorm room once she's back.

"Agreed."

"Alright, see you guys then." Ruby said.

She closed the door and left for her dorm.

"Wonder what Ice Queen's going to dig up?" Rusty thought out loud.

"Who knows, let's see if one of us can find something in the meantime" Steel suggested.

* * *

"Hello, and welcome to the CCT. How may I help you today?" The holo projection asked.

"I just need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas please." Weiss smiled.

"Sure thing, if you head over to terminal three I can patch you through." The projection said.

"Thank you" Weiss smiled and walked over to the terminal and sat down. She pressed on the screen to start the call sequence. The screen blinked and a familiar face appeared on screen.

"Hello, and thank you for calling the Schnee-" The girl cut herself off "Oh, Miss Schnee, good morning. How have you been lately?" She asked.

"I've been alright, how about you Kate?" Weiss smiled.

"Quite alright, your father still talks about you and why you chose Beacon over Atlas" Kate smile narrowed down "Can I help you with something or would you like me to patch you through to your father?"

"Well, I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me?" Weiss put her scroll on the terminal to start a transaction. "I have compiled a short list." Kate started searching through the list of files and brought them up on the computer.

"Um, I have some material on this list that is quite sensitive ma'am." Kate cautioned.

"I will be sure to treat them with care." Weiss reasoned.

"Alright, they are being transferred to your scroll now." Kate looked up at her. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to talk to your father? I think that Winter might be here as well."

"I guess a minute or two couldn't hurt." Weiss replied.

"Alright, it was nice to talk with you Weiss" Kate smiled, the screen went dark and turned on again. Weiss was surprised to see Kate pop back onto the screen again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that he was in a meeting." Kate looked saddened.

"It's alright, it was good to see you again though." Weiss said

"You to, and have a nice day." Kate smiled and the connection was terminated.

Weiss picked up her scroll and headed for the elevator.

* * *

"Weiss just sent me a message saying that she is on her way back" Blake told the rest of team RWBY.

"Alright, I'll get the others." Ruby ran off out of the room to find the others with a burst of speed and a sonic boom to follow. She was there one second, and back two seconds later.

"They aren't in their room." Ruby stated scratching her head.

"Hey, I saw a blur fly by, I take it that Ruby was looking for us." Steel popped his head into the room giving a wave.

"Yeah, Weiss is on her way back, go get your team" Yang said shooing him away.

"Got it!" Steel closed the door and took off to go and find the rest of team STRM.

Weiss entered the room and went over to the laptop they had in their room. She plugged in her scroll and opened the files on. They all started checking the data.

"Well, all of the robberies are in the same vicinity and near the edge of the kingdom." Blake examined.

"Someone pull up a map of Vale." Weiss ordered. Team STRM walked into the room and gathered around the laptop.

"Okay, so based on all of the robberies in order, the earlier robberies of dust stores were all near the same locations. This means that the robbers wanted to get the dust someplace fast so they robbed the closets stores by their hideout." Blake pointed at the dust stores that had been subjected to robberies.

"Now the only question is, where are the robbers?" Steel said confused.

"This doesn't make sense, to hold that much dust, you would need a warehouse full of the stuff. According to the Map of Vale, all of the ware houses are owned by large corporations or on the other side of the city." Weiss stated.

"Maybe they aren't hiding on the city." Mag suggested.

"Then where would they be?" Weiss asked getting no response from anybody.

Suddenly the voice of Glynda Goodwitch appeared on the intercom system.

"Would all students please meet in the auditorium. All students to the auditorium immediately."

"Alright team, let's go." Ruby said opening the door.

They arrived at the auditorium for whatever assembly awaited them. They waited for a few more minutes, then Goodwitch came onto the stage.

"Settle down please." She said. "Now then, as I'm sure you all know, the Vytal festival tournament is right around the corner. However, in spite of recent events, our security has been enhanced for the event. I'm sure everyone has noticed some of the Hunters around the premises, and our good friend from Atlas, General James Ironwood, has also sent a handful of ships. It is in everyone's best interest to be kept safe. In closing, if any suspicious behaviour is suspected, please report it to a huntsman or official immediately. Thank you." Goodwitch walked off stage and the auditorium became filled with chatter

"Let's head back to the dorm room." Ruby said getting a nod from everyone else.

They started walking and struck up conversation.

"So, where would we start?" Teal asked

"Well, seeing that we don't know where the dust is going, we should eventually survey a dust robbery." Blake said

"The only two problems with that are: A) we would have to figure out where a robbery would take place, and B) we can't be seen before, during, or after." Yang pointed out.

"Well, who's the stealthiest?" Ruby looked straight at Blake as she said this. Blake gave a deep sigh and turned to face her teammates.

"Someone's coming with me." Blake glared at her leader.

"Well, I vote either Mag or Teal to go with you." Steel said. Blake looked at her friends and the advantages each of them had. Mag could teleport to either deny getting spotted or distract an enemy if needed. Teal on the other hand could give a readout of everyone on the field at the time needed.

"I vote for both actually." Blake quickly decided.

They walked into the dorm and stood around in a semi-circle.

"I'm in." Teal smiled.

"Me too." Mag nodded.

"Alright, the best time that we would be able to do this would be during the tournament while everyone's distracted." Blake said looking at the calendar on the wall. "Weiss, could you check to see when the next dust shipment arrives in Vale?" Weiss gave a nod and sat down at the computer

"Everyone else, if you find anything bring it to us." Ruby said. Everyone understood and team STRM left team RWBY's dorm. Ruby hopped up on her bunk and lay down.

"So, tournament first?" Yang asked.

"We will still look for any clues possible." Weiss said.

"The tournament starts on Monday, we will check the fight lineup for our team and Steel's and coordinate appropriately." Blake explained.

"Well, rest up then." Ruby said rolling over to look at her teammates. "This is going to be a good next couple weeks"

* * *

"So, we get a student dorm room." Nile complained.

"Quit your fricking bellyaching" Xplat said.

"I agree, we are here to protect students at the Vytal festival, we should be honoured" Elm said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He glanced at Clancy who was just letting the team argue, again.

"Come on Elm, this is so boring, our missions were way more fun." Nile flopped onto his bed and rolled to face his teammates.

"No arguing there" Elm smiled.

"I wonder when an explosion will occur" Xplat smiled and then switched to Xplit

"No, no explosions, they freak me out." Xplit hunched over.

"Oh man, you missed it Xplat, there was an explosion in the cafeteria." Elm chuckled and looked at Clancy who was glaring at him

"And who's fault was that, hmm?" Clancy said sarcastically.

"Partially mine, maybe, I don't really remember, yeah." Elm trailed off.

"Let me guess, pineapple?" Nile smiles.

"What gave it away?" Clancy asked sarcastically.

"The high five a few days ago and the fact that Elm hates pineapples." Nile replied in a blur.

"That was rhetorical asshole" Clancy rolled his eyes and looked out the window to see Amity coliseum flying in. he stood up to get a closer look and called his teammates over.

"Is that the coliseum? I feel like it's changed" Elm said.

"Nope, hasn't changed one bit." Clancy said.

"So, we are guarding people all the way up there?" Xplit asked.

"Yep, who knows, this next few weeks could be really fun" Clancy turned and sat back down. "Everyone rest up for Monday, that's the tournaments' start date."

"Got it." Said Elm.

"Okay." Said Xplat.

"Sounds good" Said Nile, Elm, Xplat and Nile all said together.

Clancy looked out the window from his laying position and smiled at the week to come.

" _This will be fun._ " Clancy thought and lay back on the bed. He closed his eyes and smiled. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

* * *

 _ **A.N.**_ _: Writing stories is hard_

 _Yang: No it isn't, it's easy._

 _Me: Really? I'd like to see you try._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **I used to write a 2k chapter a week when I wrote fanfiction. Wasn't that hard.**

 _Me: Yeah, but, umm, shit. I, uhh._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **You have no excuse.**

 _Yang: *Starts laughing hysterically*_

 _Blake:_ What's so funny?

Me: _Nothing, forget about it._

 _RedMoose:_ Whats Yang laughing about? Ohhh. _*Realizes something and joins Yang in her hysteria*_

 _Me: great, everyone laughs at me… CRUEL WORLD!_

 _Blake:_ I'm not laughing at you.

Me: _Thanks Blake, you're a good friend._

 _Blake: Thanks, I guess?_


	17. Vytal Festival Tournament

_**A.N.:**_ _Here's another chapter for all of you reading this_

 _Blake:_ Reading is always fun.

 _Me: That's why people are here, to read the story._

 _RedMoose:_ Some are here to read it and fix the mistakes.

 _Me: Okay, I guess so, but most just want to read the story, not our rants._

 _RedMoose:_ The rants are the best part.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Nox agrees. All hail Nox.**

 _RedMoose:_ Where's the rest of team RWBY?

 _Blake:_ I'm here, don't know where the others are though.

*A wall explodes, Ruby and Yang enter.*

 _Ruby:_ We got you a pen, RedMoose!

 _RedMoose:_ Thank you Ruby and Yang.

 _Blake:_ I found two of them.

 _*The door opens and Weiss storms in.*_

 _Weiss:_ YOU COULD'VE USED THE DOOR, YOU DOLTS!

 _RedMoose:_ I found ice queen.

Weiss: Why don't we let them read the story while **WE,** fix the hole in the wall.

Me: _Great idea Weiss._

* * *

 **The Vytal Festival Tournament**

* * *

"You guys, the tournament starts today! Everyone get up this minute!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Oh, cooommmme oooooonnn siiiisssss. Five m-more minutes-s." Yang slurred said tucking herself back into bed.

Blake sat up and punched the blonde's bed above her as hard as she could, causing Yang to grumble.

"Okay, okay, fine I'll get up." Yang hopped out of bed and gave a stretch.

"What' the plan for today?" Weiss asked giving a yawn.

"Ruby said it already, tournament starts today." Blake looked at her team leader and gave a smile which was quickly returned.

"Aww, Blake, you remind me of a kitty when you smile like that." Yang cooed.

This caused Blake to go pale and her eyes had a look of terror in them.

"Blake, are you okay? You're looking a bit pale." Weiss examined.

Blake snapped out of her trance allowing for color to fill her face again.

"Yeah, I'm fine, let's go get ready." Blake grabbed her clothing and walked out the door.

"Is she okay?" Yang asked.

"Yeah she'll be fine." Ruby gave a fake smile and ran out the door with her arrire in hand.

"Okay, let's find team STRM at the coliseum then." Weiss said walking out of the dorm room. Yang rolled her eyes and chased after her team.

* * *

"Oh, this is so cool. I've never been in Amity coliseum before!" Ruby exclaimed sporadically.

"Have you watched the tournament before?" Blake asked taking in the scenery.

"Only a broadcasted version." Ruby replied.

"Hey, there's Steel" Yang pointed to the faunus boy observing the large crowd gathering inside the coliseum.

"Steel!" Yang shouted trying to get his attention.

Steel turned and waved back at them with a smile. Team RWBY walked up to him.

"How are you guys?" He asked politely.

"Pretty good, I wonder who is going to be chosen to fight who." Yang punched her fists together to show that she was ready for any competition that would come her way.

"It's exciting to think about isn't it?" Steel looked at the crowed again with a smile on his face.

"Where is the rest of your team?" Weiss asked taking a glance around the place

"Oh, they went to go get snacks, we're meeting back here when their done." Steel explained

"Think you guys are ready for the tournament?" Ruby asked

"Well, we could be more prepared." Steel trailed off.

Magenta walked up to them and handed Steel a soda that she had bought.

"Thanks Mag." Steel reached out and grabbed the drink. "How much do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything, that was a gift." Mag smiled and took a piece of popcorn out of the bag and ate it. Teal and Rusty walked up to the group as well, also with treats in hand.

"Hey there." Teal smiled

"Hi Teal, Rusty. How are you?" Weiss asked

"I could be better." Rusty said.

"Don't mean to interrupt but, do you guys want to find out seats?" Steel asked and started walking down the stairs to the student seating.

"Good idea." Ruby followed along with everyone else behind her. They found team JNPR and sat down next to them

"Hey Ruby, how are you?" Jaune said with a smile

"I'm good how are yo-" Ruby started before getting cut off by the speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Vytal festival tournament." Ports voice echoed throughout the stadium followed by a series of cheers and clapping.

"Now, down to business. We will start the randomization process in just a few moments" Oobleck said

"This is exciting!" Ruby beamed. The teams sat there and talked for a while before Ports voice came on the intercom again.

"Now then, let's see who our first match will be. After the first match is chosen, we will continue to select random teams to compete. If your team is chosen to fight first, please make your way down to the arena." The intercom cut out and a screen came up with teams from every school. The image started turning just like a slot machine. It came to a stop after about thirty seconds.

"Our first match of the tournament will be, team CRDL of Beacon versus team AMGD of Shade." Ooblecks voice cut out.

"Now then, team Cardinal and team Armageddon please come to the arena while we choose the rest of the matches." Port finished.

"Let's pay attention to the first day, and then just check the bracket afterward if we don't fight today." Yang suggested.

"I agree, they'll definitely post the lineup around the school."

"Our second match will be, team SSSN of Haven vs team COPR of Atlas." Oobleck said.

"Our third match, team JNPR of Beacon, vs team MHGY of Haven" Port said.

"Our fourth match will comprise of team BRNZ of Shade vs Team GLDN of Beacon" Oobleck finished.

"And our fifth and final match of the day will be, team CRNG of Haven vs team NDGO of Shade" Port gave a laugh of confidence. .

"These are the matches posted for today, any matches scheduled for tomorrow or later will be posted on your scrolls." Oobleck said.

"Now then, onto our first match. Team AMGD of Shade consists of the brothers, Gray and Darce Forge," Gray was short, and had shaggy brown hair with gray wolf ears and gray eyes and a large arm bracer on each arm. Darce was taller, about 6' 1", with dark black hair and matching cat ears. He had a sword at his hip with a silenced pistol holstered over it. "Murphy Machina," Murphy had muddy red hair, brown eyes, and a bright red fox tail. He was packing a pistol on each hip and had a wide grin on his face. "And their leader, Aries Anemone." Port finished.

Aries was pale as a ghost, with purple hair, bright yellow eyes, and a green shirt that made him look like a human flower. He was the sole human on team AMGD, and wasn't carrying any obvious weapon. He looked nervous, but not about the match. It didn't look like he was enjoying the attention the audience was giving him. Murphy kept a hand on his shoulder to comfort his leader, while the brothers seemed to be debating something or other.

"Our home team CRDL consists of , Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark, and their leader, Cardin Winchester." Oobleck continued.

"This match will really come down to both talent, and skill." Port said.

"Speaking of which, for anyone unfamiliar about the tournament, allow us to break it down for you." Oobleck started.

"The tournament has three selective rounds, the teams round, the doubles round, and the singles round." Port explained.

"When a team wins, they elect two of their members to move onto the doubles round, and if they win again, they elect one of those two, to move on to the singles and attempt to claim victory for their kingdom." Oobleck finished.

"But enough of this, let's get onto the fight." Port said.

"Teams, get ready." Oobleck started.

The arena started to select it's biomes. The biomes were a green field with tall grass, and an Ice biome.

"Three, two, one, Begin." Port signaled for the fight to start.

Murphy took out his pistols and started a hailfire toward team CRDL. Darce took of to the right of them and ran for the grassy field. Aries and Gray sprinted straight at team CRDL who were occupied dodging and blocking the barrage of bullets flying at them. All at the exact same time, Darce sprinted out of the grassy field from behind team CRDL, while Aries and Gray sprinted from the front. Gray got point blank and punched Sky with his brass knuckles he was "hiding." The attack sent Sky flying for the arena's borders

Aries equipped a blade that shot out of his sleeve, it was so fast, if you blinked you would miss it. He kicked Russel into the air and on his way down, used the blade to stab right at Russel's torso. The attack landed and Russel was sent flying.

Darce started shooting at Dove with his suppressed pistol while moving forward. When he got close enough, Darce used his katana to swipe at Dove's feet knocking him off balance. While he was staggering, Darce jumped into the air and sent himself flying at Dove with a kick. When it landed, Dove too was sent flying into the arena border.

Murphy was still unloading his magazines toward Cardin, who was having a tough time keeping up with the shots. Aries, Gray, and Darce all gave each other a look and sprinted a Cardin. Darce tripped him with his katana, Gray upper-cut Cardin as he fell and sent him into the air. Aries drop kicked the boy and he was sent flying out of the arena.

"I'm speechless, Peter!" Oobleck said in shock. "That was one of the fastest rounds that I've ever witnessed in my life!"

"The winners are team AMGD of Shade." Port boasted.

"Our next match will begin in twenty minutes." Oobleck said and the intercom shut off.

"Wow, they got fucked up." Rusty said wide eyed.

"How fast was that?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief.

"Less than a minute I'd say." Steel replied.

"That, was, awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "He got tripped, upper-cutted and sent flying all at the exact same time!"

"Well, I mean, I've seen better." Rusty got death stares from everyone on the three teams.

"Could you not be an asshole about everything for like, three minutes please?" Mag exaggerated.

Rusty rolled his eyes and shut his mouth.

"Thank you" Mag said under her breath.

* * *

The teams watched the remaining fights for the day. When team JNPR had to go up, they all wished them luck. Team JNPR walked up and faced their opponents, team MHGY (mahogany) who hailed from Mistrial.

The team consisted of Mahogany Birch, whose face was well tanned. He had light brown hair, with mahogany eyes, appearing wide and observant. He had wide brimmed hat with one side pinned up with a long black feather stuck in, and a deep mahogany colored scarf around his neck. he had a musket with a long curved bayonet slung over his back on a chain.

Helo Turpentine, had long crimson hair that looked as if it was on fire when she moved her head. Her pale skin and bright blue eyes gave her the appearance of a ball of fire. She was wearing a bright red tank top that exposed her heavily tattooed arms. and had a skirt that fell to the ground decorated with images of flowers. On two belts, sat several dust canisters and jars containing dust crystals. She carried no visible weapon but her tattoos seemed to glow a bright orangey-red colour.

Gold Sevroph, She was in traditional plate armour from head to toe, all the audience could see was her eyes which were green around the outside and gold at the centre. Her armour had a gold coloring to it. The gauntlets of her armour appeared to be wicked sharp. She held herself like a trained martial artist would.

And finally Ying Redwood. He had short black hair with grey flecks. His skin was lightly tanned and had grey eyes. He wore a white tight fitting shirt which showed off his muscular torso. He had white pauldrons, and had two large bags attached at his belt and strapped to his legs. he wore black fingerless gloves and carried a large war hammer.

Team JNPR readied their weapons and waited for the countdown. The biomes that were selected were a Mountain, and a Desert. Pyrrha observed the enemy team for any signs of weakness, but was having trouble doing so.

"Ren, try to get behind them if you can. Nora, try to distract them for Pyrrha, Ren, and I with your grenade launcher. Pyrrha, stay right on my tail." Jaune said with a smug look.

"What happens if this doesn't work?" Ren asked.

"Split up, and pick them off I guess." Jaune decided.

"I don't know about this Jaune." Pyrrha said.

"Three." Port announced.

"Just trust me Pyrrha." Jaune replied.

"Two."

"Okay, let's do this." Pyrrha smiled.

"One."

"Come on guys" Jaune shouted.

Ren angled himself to sprint to the right into the desert behind enemy lines. Nora still had her warhammer equipped, and Jaune and Pyrrha raised their shields.

"Begin!" Port shouted into the mic, and both teams engaged. Pyrrha and Jaune started to charge with their shields raised to block any incoming fire. An explosion sounded in front of them signaling that Nora had begun her bombardment. Jaune looked up to get a view to see only two of their members, Mahogany and Helo, standing there.

"Jaune, on your right!" Nora shouted.

Jaune stopped and narrowly dodged getting tackled to the ground by Gold. As she slid from the fall, she tripped Pyrrha. Pyrrha used the momentum from the fall to dive and turned Miló into it's spear form. She threw it as she fell and it smoked Gold in the chest, and ricocheted off. Pyrrha rolled, while using her semblance, to draw her spear back to her. She sprang up and caught Miló in mid air. She flipped backward and landed on Gold.

Gold tripped Pyrrha off of her, and sprang upward onto her feet. She sent a death glare toward Pyrrha that was quickly returned. A shot rang out and hit Akoúo̱ out of Pyrrha's hands. Another shot sounded from a musket, but Jaune jumped in front of Pyrrha, shield raised, to block the shot. The impact knocked Jaune back and he stumbled for a moment.

Before another shot could be heard, submachine gun fire sounded from Ren. Pyrrha looked back to see Gold who began rushing at her. Jaune and Pyrrha readied themselves, before Helo came down from the air and an explosion appeared at their feet. Both of the teammates were sent flying. Helo gave a smile and turned around to a noise behind her.

"Hello!" Nora said sporadically, before she raised Magnhild and slammed it into Helo.

Nora looked up and clapped at the sight of her airborne enemy. Helo landed close to Pyrrha and stood up again.

"Hey, don't hurt my teammates!" Ying shouted twirling his hammer as if it weighed nothing.

"Ohh, a hammer fight." Nora's eyes narrowed as the two rushed each other.

Both hammers hit one another. The impact created a shockwave that sent both of them flying away from each other. Ying landed and skid across the ground. He used his warhammer like a sniper rifle and planted it in the ground, he fired at Nora with a round the size of a small tank shell. The shot landed and sent Nora flying. The buzzer sounded, and Nora was out of the match.

"What?" All three remaining members of team JNPR said in shock.

Ren refocused on the fight at hand. He unloaded Stormflower's dust rounds into Mahogany causing severe aura damage to his aura. Ren pushed forward and got into melee distance. Mahogany used his bayonet and stabbed toward Ren. Ren used one of the SMG's blades to block the attack, pushing it to the side and kicked Mahogany to the ground. Ren sliced at him, landing a final hit, sending Mahogany out of the match.

Pyrrha dived for Akoúo̱ and equipped her shield. Helo jumped into the air again to cause another shock wave.

"She uses dust as her weapon." Pyrrha said as she examined Helo's tattoos, which lit up as she attacked.

Pyrrha jumped to avoid the incoming attack and dodged the shock wave of burn dust. Pyrrha put Akoúo̱ behind her and lunged off of it. She landed a devastating blow to Helo's aura reserve when the attack landed. Pyrrha caught her shield as it fell and put herself in a combat stance again.

Helo was joined by Gold and Pyrrha's eyes tightened. She looked for any cover in the sandy hills, just as a backup plan. Gold, despite her armor, could still move really fast, even after being banged up a lot. She sprinted at Pyrrha, so she turned Milό into its rifle form and started shooting. Gold just took the shots, and appeared to move slightly faster as each shot hit. Pyrrha ducked under Gold's attack and stuck her leg out to trip her. Gold flipped and landed on her back. Both Gold and Helo were on opposite sides of her. Just as Gold was about to start sprinting at her again, Jaune used his shield to bash her over the head, knocking her to the floor.

Pyrrha turned to face Helo, only to find Ren behind Helo, and Helo on the ground. A buzzer sounded, and Helo was out. Pyrrha looked at Ren and smiled. Suddenly, a tank shell round flied toward Ren. Ren lept into the air just barely dodging the shot. Pyrrha used her rifle and fired at the sandy ridge where the round came from. She landed a few nice hits and another buzzer sounded to signal Ying out of the fight.

"Little help here guys!" Jaune shouted as he was tripped by Gold.

Ren started firing at Gold and Pyrrha did the same. Gold used her gauntlets to block nearly every shot that they fired at her. Jaune was behind her and used Crocea Mors to slash at Gold's back. She heard him and blocked the attack. Unfortunately, Gold took her eyes off of Ren and Pyrrha for a second allowing for many shots to hit her. Gold's aura was depleted and she was out.

"And the winner of this match is, Team JNPR of Beacon." Port's voice rang out across the arena

Gold started to get up and walked over to the victors.

"Good, match." She said in between breaths.

"Thank you." Pyrrha said.

"It was fun." Jaune smiled.

"Perhaps we could do it again sometime." Ren said with almost no emotion.

"YES!" Nora yelled as she ran up to her teammates. "We need a rematch, I have a bone to pick with someone." She death stared Ying who was getting up off of the ground.

"All in good time I guess." Gold smiled and rejoined her teammates

"Well, now what do we do?" Ren asked calmly.

"Anyone up for popcorn?" Nora asked excitedly

"I am." Jaune said.

Pyrrha nodded in agreement, and Ren smiled. So, team JNPR went off to go devour popcorn at the fairgrounds.

* * *

"Great fight you guys." Ruby said happily.

"Yeah, you guys rocked that." Teal added.

"Thanks guys." Jaune blushed a bit, he wasn't used to praise of this level.

"I heard that you guys are fighting tomorrow, Ruby. Do you know what team you're fighting?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well you see, we have a bet with team STRM." Yang started.

"And what would that be?" Nora perked up.

"We don't look at the team we are fighting so we have a big disadvantage." Ruby stated.

"The rules of the bet are as follows. One, they can't see who their fighting. Two, they have to win the match." Steel and Yang locked eyes with a rivalry type fire burning in each of their eyes.

"Well, how do they know when their fight is?" Jaune asked.

"We told them already." Rusty gave a smirk.

"What do they get if they win?" Nora asked soaking up every bit of information.

"We buy their dust munitions for the rest of the year." Mag smiled.

"Vice versa if they lose." Steel added.

"Well, since our fight is the first one tomorrow, I'm going to go make sure that Crescent Rose is in tippity top condition." Ruby smiled before disappearing in a whirlwind of rose petals.

"She is a speed demon." Blake shook her head and gave a smile.

"Yeah, but she's still my little sister" Yang smiled as well.

* * *

Ruby opened the door to the school's workshop and equipped Crescent Rose. She took the scythe to a work bench and started to take some of the weapon apart to clean it. She heard the sound of something drop behind her and turned to see what it was.

"Damn." The man sounded frustrated. Ruby walked over to see what the problem was.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, yeah, I was just trying to make a modification to my staff." He said.

"Can I see?" Ruby started to geek out a little.

"Sure, I'm trying to integrate a shotgun feature." He said.

"Hmm, I hate to break it to you, but the feature can't really work with the way your staff works." Ruby pointed at the edge of the staff.

"What? How?" He looked stunned.

"Well it could but there would be a danger of the staff exploding if you fired it."

"What!?" He sounded shocked.

"Well, your dust integration already fires out this end, if you hit any leftover dust around the barrel, it would probably explode." Ruby looked at the staff again.

"Well, so much for that plan, Now I can't beat Nile even more in a range fight." He said.

"Well, sorry about that. What's your name?" Ruby asked.

"I'm Elm, a graduate of Haven academy." he boasted putting his hands on his hips and looking up at the ceiling dramatically.

"Wow, really!?" Ruby's eyes lit up

"Yeah, and for some reason I teach at a school in Mistral." Elm said scratching his head.

"What school do you teach at?" Ruby asked.

"Sanctum actually." Elm chuckled a bit.

"What do you teach there?" Ruby asked.

"I teach weapon forging and stuff." Elm smiled. Ruby started to snicker.

"Wait, you didn't know that adding the shotgun feature wouldn't work?"Ruby said trying to hold back her laughter.

"Well, forging and modding are two different things." Elm rolled his eyes.

"I guess, I'm going to clean my weapon up." Ruby turned to go work on her weapon.

"Okay, see you around I guess." Elm went back to putting his staff back together.

"Alright, let's see here, ammo feeder, good. Sights, aligned perfectly. Scythe blade, sharp. Ammo count, adequate. I think that I'm set." Ruby smiled and quickly put Crescent Rose together from any pieces she took off before.

She opened Crescent Rose into its scythe form and looked down the sight to check one last time.

"Nice, looks like my baby is ready for the fight." She hugged Crescent Rose in it's sniper form and smiled. Ruby put Crescent Rose away and ran out of the work room. She sprinted into the dorm room to find Blake reading her book in her bed.

"Hey, Blake." Ruby gave a smile as she entered. Blake put the book down and gave Ruby a wave. "Whatcha reading?" Ruby asked climbing onto her bed.

"Oh, nothing, it's a book that I've had since the start of the school year, I just thought I would re-read it."

"That's cool. I guess I won't bother you then." Ruby took out her study book and started going over the notes she had been taking.

" _Younger_ _Beowolves can easily be taken down by a slash near the abdomen. Older ones just require a few more hits to kill."_ Ruby began to read over her notes on grimm studies. She liked the class, as do most people. The only problem was the bombastic storytelling professor Port.

"Hey, Ruby." Ruby looked at Blake who stood up.

"Yes?" Ruby replied.

"Do you think that we can win tomorrow?" Blake stared seriously.

"Yeah, we have a disadvantage, but I think that we have a good chance." Ruby admitted.

"We've got this." Blake smiled.

"Yeah, we've got this." Ruby smiled back.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Vytal tournament!" Port announced and the crowd roared.

"Our first match is beginning in ten minutes, don't miss it." Oobleck said.

"We totally got this!" Yang pounded her fists together.

"I think we do actually." Weiss said as she examined Myrtenaster and wiped it down.

"Everyone ready?" Ruby said.

"I think so, I've been practicing all morning." Blake said sheathing Gambol Shroud.

"You've been practicing?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, haven't you?" Blake chuckled.

"What, oh, umm, of course I have!" Ruby blurted out.

"Ruby, you are a terrible liar, you know that right?" Yang said.

"Yeah, I know." Ruby pouted

"Come on you guys, we need to focus." Weiss said.

"Weiss is right, we still have the disadvantage of not knowing who we are fighting." Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud and took a deep breath.

"Blake is right, but we can win this thing." Ruby smiled

" Yeah, we're going to kick butt." Yang pounded her fists together again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the first fight of today will begin momentarily. Would the teams please enter the arena at this time."

"Alright you guys, we can do this." Ruby stepped out onto the dirt surrounding the arena. They looked at the other side but couldn't find the other team.

"Come on, let's go into the middle." Blake led them to the arena's center and they lined up in order. Ruby took another deep breath to calm herself down a bit.

"Hey, we're going to be fine Ruby." Weiss said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"And here comes the opposing team." Blake pointed to the opening gate.

They lined up but only one person caught everyone's attention.

Weiss started breathing at a faster pace and her heart beat sped up.

"Well, isn't this a coincidence." Brandon said across from them.

"What? Is this your team?" Weiss said after regaining her form.

"Yeah, this is team EMBR." Brandon smiled.

"Welcome to the first round. Our match will be team RWBY of Beacon vs team EMBR of Atlas." Port said over the speakers.

"The home team consists of Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and the team's leader, Ruby rose!" Oobleck said

"And our opposing team from Atlas consists of Brandon Aeronwen, Flynn Metalic," who appeared to be dressed in all black including a sweater and pants, while wearing steel gauntlets that wrapped around his entire hand and forearm. the only thing that wasn't black were his burning yellow eyes and pale skin shrouded in shadow. "Roy Guinevere," Who was wearing leather armor that covered his torso and black combat boots. He had red hair and brown eyes. "and their leader, Ecru Wiola!" Who was wearing what looked like a bullet proof vest and camo cargo pants. both his eyes and hair were a golden color.

The coliseum chose the biomes at random, it chose a swamp biome, behind team EMBR and a mountain biome behind team RWBY.

"Teams at the ready!" Port's voice shouted across the stadium.

Ruby equipped Crescent Rose

Weiss equipped Myrtenaster

Blake equipped Gambol shroud

and Yang equipped Ember Celica

"Three!" Port said

"Get ready everyone!" Ruby checked her teammates.

"Two!"

" _We got this, totally got this."_ Ruby thought and took a deep breath

"One! Begin!" The buzzer sounded and the two teams took off running at each other.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _And now, I will keep all of you waiting for the most epic fight of all time!_

Ruby: But I want to fight.

Weiss: Yeah, what gives?

Blake: I was all ready and everything!

Yang: I hate you…

Me: _I'm sorry, I'll go home now._

Yang: You are at home dumbass..

 _RedMoose:_ Fun fact violence is not the answer also, I'm in your home, WHY AM I HERE?!

Me: _RedMoose go away, having eight people from the fourth wall in your home is bad enough_

 _RedMoose:_ _NO!_ It's more interesting here.

 _Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Steel, Teal, Rusty, Mag:_ Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Hello, I'm here too. Team AMGD is my creation. Go read Into the Glyph on my profile. *Shameless advertisement is shameless*. Fun fact: People think AMGD is pronounced "Armageddon", but really it's "Ah Ma GawD".**

 _Me: okay, umm, I'm in a bind, can you help me rwbyfan5?_

 _RedMoose:_ Don't forget our Lady Nox. All hail Nox. Team MHGY are my brain children.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **All hail Nox.**

 _Me: they're closing in, help me._

 _RedMoose:_ Faster, he's getting away!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **I'll pray to Nox for you.**

 _Me: How does this help me right now though, gods' powers take time to take effect._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **You dare question the divine procrastination of Nox?!**

 _RedMoose:_ All hail Nox. *Advances closer* All hail Nox. *Pulls out knife *All hail Nox.*Proceeds to Stab Spartan25798*. All hail Nox. *Continues to stab Spartan25798*. All hail Nox.

 _Me: NO, of course not, I'd just like to finish the story and not be ripped to pieces… Thank god for aura..._

 _Yang:_ Nox, give us the power to crush all the bones in his body and we will praise your holiness for all it is!

Nox: ' _ **Kay.**_ _***Grants Yang's wish and gives Spartan25798 erectile dysfunction for the hell of it***_

 _Me: Okay, I'm running away now… Tell my parents that I love them. Bye! *As he takes a explosive shotgun powered punch to the balls.*_

 _Yang:_ Hey, I'm not done with you just yet.

 _RedMoose:_ Be like Yang and crush his wang.

 _Me: could this day get any worse?_

 _Ruby:_ Yes, Yes it could.

 _Me: I'll make you all a deal, you don't kill me, and I'll write the chapter at God speed, if you hea-_

 _RedMoose:_ Team ABEX *CoughCoughElmFightSceneCoughCough* fight scene and you have a deal.

 _Me: *Passes out, but gives a thumbs up*_

 _RedMoose:_ YAY! *kicks Spartan25798 with his boot* Okay I think we should let him rest, see you all in the next chapter.


	18. The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

_**A.N.:**_ _And so it begins._

 _Yang:_ What, you finally hit puberty?

 _Rusty:_ That would be a fucking miracle.

RedMoose: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Nox has something for that, if you're interested.**

 _Me: umm, for what exactly?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Instant puberty.**

 _Me: I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I HIT PUBERTY A LONG TIME AGO!_

 _Yang:_ You sure don't act like it

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Hey, man, whatever you say.**

RedMoose: Now then, who took my pen? WHAT THE FUCK! Where did it go I had it like ten seconds ago.

 _Me: Mag, did you have something to do with that?_

 _Random Voice:_ _**That's racist. *A ding is heard in the background, adding a sin to the already very large counter***_

 _Mag_ : What? Just because I can teleport automatically puts the blame on me?

RedMoose: Yes. You are exactly correct

 _Me: You know what, you readers read the chapter and we will work out this problem..._

* * *

 **The Moment You've All Been Waiting For**

* * *

"Begin!" Port shouted and both teams ran at each other.

Blake started moving to the right of the enemy in attempts to flank them. Roy had the same idea and the two of them stared each other down not making any sudden movements. Weiss jumped into the air and sent herself spiraling toward Ecru. Ecru's weapon was a double sided sword that had a trigger. Ecru hit the trigger and the double bladed sword broke into two swords. He put his blades into an X and blocked her attack. Weiss jumped up off of the sword and flipped onto her feet.

"Oh boy, this is going to be fun." Ecru gave a sinister smile and put his blades back together.

Weiss readied her stance and gave a dash toward Ecru at a blazing speed. Ecru gave a slash with the left side of his double bladed sword in an attempt to intercept her attack. Weiss and Ecru's blades met and they held on in a locked attack.

"Duck!" Ruby shouted at Weiss, Weiss pushed Ecru's sword up and hit the deck to see Ruby fly over her and jump kick Ecru.

Ecru got back on his feet and split his sword in two again. He glared at the two girls and quickly checked his surroundings. Ruby noticed some dust crystals behind Ecru and they started to float in mid air.

"It appears that Ecru Wiola has begun to use his semblance, a remarkable display of a telekinesis ability." Oobleck announced.

Ecru sent the dust crystals straight at the two of them. They both dived out of the way as the fire crystals exploded at their feet.

"Could use some help here!" Yang called out.

She was fighting in hand to hand combat with Flynn. His weapons appeared to be his gauntlets, there were blades extending outward at the fingertips giving him a bit more reach than Yang. She was doing her best but not only did he have more reach, but more speed as well.

"Ruby, keep him busy, I'll help Yang." Weiss said and readied herself to launch toward the two melee combatants.

Flynn got a good slash in before Weiss came spiraling toward him and sent him flying away from the two. He landed in the swampy waters and stood up looking really pissed.

"Where's Blake?" Weiss asked.

"She was tracking one of their teammates, but he is really quick." Yang pointed to the mountains where Blake was standing still.

Weiss smiled at the clever trap Blake had set. Suddenly, Flynn was in the air and sent himself flying toward the both of them.

"Heads!" Yang tackled Weiss and narrowly avoided Flynn who soared over both of them.

"Plan?" Yang said.

"Yeah, I got one." Weiss looked at Flynn who was sitting with his eyes closed.

' _Is he really meditating at a time like this?_ ' The heiress thought to herself before speaking out loud.

"Okay, Try going head on and then I will flank around him and get him from behind." Weiss took off running and waited for her cue to attack.

She noticed Flynn's mouth move but couldn't tell what he was saying.

Yang charged in and the both of them started trying to hit one another again. Weiss was now behind Flynn and within Yang's line of sight. She readied Myrtenaster and lunged herself at Flynn from afar. As she was flying something hit her in the stomach and she stopped, fell to the ground and looked up.

"Come on Weiss, how do you keep forgetting my semblance?" Brandon appeared before her out of thin air.

"Right, invisibility that is only good if you move slow." Weiss backflipped up and landed on her feet.

Brandon readied his longsword and pointed it at her like a-

' _Wait a minute._ ' Weiss heard a bang and jumped into the air as a dagger from the end of Brandon's sword flew by her feet.

"At least you remember some of my tricks." Brandon gave a smile and readied the sword again.

Inside the blade was a shotgun modification that pulled the equivalent of a dust round without the power of dust in a cartridge. Instead, Brandon had a dust cylinder much like in Weiss's rapier. The dust round would fly through one of the dust slots giving the bullet it's dust capability.

"Catch!" Brandon fired at Weiss who was still in the air and she took the attack in full force.

She landed on her back and glanced up at her aura level. She was past the halfway point at forty aura reserve, Ruby was still in the eighties, Blake was near the sixties and Yang was at her level exactly.

' _Great._ ' Weiss got up and looked for Yang, who landed a hit on Flynn with a shotgun shell.

Weiss readied her rapier to lunge again. She flung herself at Brandon who ducked under her and flew right by him. Flynn got onto his feet, but was quickly knocked back down from Weiss landing a clean hit. Yang shot at him while he was in the air with one of her slug rounds that she used for range. The shot landed and sent Flynn in a different direction. Flynn slid across the swampy floor and the buzzer rang, signaling him out of the match.

Blake was on the mountain's base keeping a sharp eye and ear out for targets. Suddenly, Roy flew past her with his cylindrical dust whip and smacked her on the face as he flew by.

" _How the hell is he so fast?"_ Blake thought to herself.

"What amazing speed from Mr. Guinevere." Port announced.

"Why, yes Peter, but he owes that speed to his semblance, Flynn Guinevere has the ability to make a target move slower appearing him to be moving much faster than he actually is." Oobleck said.

" _Thanks for the update."_ Blake got up and readied herself again.

She canceled out every other sound and only listened for footsteps. She hear some behind her and slashed at her six. She hit something alright.

"What an amazing play from Ms, Belladonna and Ms. Xiao Long. I wonder if they planned that one, or of it was just luck!" Port announced.

"Your welcome bow!" Yang waved, she had launched Flynn toward her and made as much footstep noise as possible to alert Blake that he was flying at her.

Roy jumped up and sprang himself at Yang, He used the dust in his whip to freeze Yang's leg in place and switched dust modes. He then swung at Yang from above with lightning dust, Yang's eyes lit up as she was electrocuted. Flynn then roundhouse kicked her and sent Yang out of the match.

"No!"

Blake charged at Roy, She slid under his whip attack coming from her side and slid under his legs, before he could react, Blake jumped into the air and left a shadow clone in her place Roy used his elbow and hit the clone. The clone vaporized and Blake came down from above and landed on Roy dropping his aura below sixteen.

She heard a buzzer followed by another buzzer and looked around to find a screen. She saw that Roy, and Flynn were both out on team EMBR while on team RWBY, both Yang and Ruby were out as well.

"Weiss, where are you!?" Blake called out, she heard the sound of a dust explosion and ran toward the sound.

Weiss was on the ground and Brandon was closing in on her. He put the shotgun up to Weiss's head and prepared to pull the trigger.

"Weiss!" Blake shouted causing Brandon to look away. Weiss cast a glyph at her feet and sent herself sliding backwards. She cast another and sprang into the air. She cast one final glyph and with Myrtenaster in hand, launched off of it and straight at Brandon.

"Oh no, Weiss, this will _not_ be a time I lose to you." Brandon swung his sword and deflected Myrtenaster out of her hands and landed near the mountain's base.

Weiss came crashing down to the ground and slid face first. Blake charged in to help Weiss and guarded her while she got up.

"Leave her alone." Blake glared and duel wielded Gambol Shroud.

"Alright." Brandon suddenly vanished before Blake's eyes causing her heart to start racing.

Blake helped Weiss up and guarded her while she equipped Myrtenaster.

"Now then, where did Brandon go?" Weiss said aloud.

"Ecru, now!" Blake and Weiss both turned to see a boy flying at them from the mountain above them duel wielding his swords.

Weiss jumped out of the way while Blake cast a shadow clone to evade.

"Two on two." Ecru smiled as Brandon appeared beside him.

"You take the leader, Brandon is mine." Weiss glared at him.

Blake gave a nod and put herself in a combat stance. Weiss did the same and they both ran at their opponents. Blake quickly checked their stats as they ran.

 _Weiss Schnee: 20_

 _Blake Belladonna: 35_

 _Ecru Wiola: 45_

 _Brandon Aeronwen: 35_

" _We have a huge disadvantage."_ Blake thought.

She cast a shadow clone at her feet for it to stay motionless, Ecru took the bait and flew past her. Blake switched Gambol shroud into it's pistol form and started shooting at Ecru. Ecru turned to the sound and took three shots before starting to deflect the incoming dust shots.

"Clever, I'll give you that one." Ecru smiled and charged again.

Blake stood still with her katana at the ready. Ecru used his dual blades in a downward swing to try to stagger Blake. Blake reacted quickly by bringing out her sheath as an additional blade to block Ecru's attack. He stood taller than her allowing for gravity to become his ally. Blake went down on one knee, she was losing this. She acted quickly by giving some slack causing Ecru to stumble forward. She rolled out of the way, got onto her feet, cast a clone behind her and flew at Ecru. His eyes widened at the sight of her foot flying toward his face. Before he could react, Blake's attack landed and sent him out of the fight.

Blake turned to see how Weiss was handling herself. She checked the board to see that Weiss had only sixteen aura in reserve.

" _One hit will take Weiss out."_ Blake ran to help her friend who was trying to dodge Brandon's attacks.

Brandon had at some point, picked up the dagger in his sword and put it back in place. Weiss lunged at Brandon with one final effort. Brandon shot the dagger out and hit Weiss directly in the chest. The buzzer sounded and Weiss was out.

"Sorry Weiss, maybe next time." Brandon looked directly at Blake.

The two of them were running on fumes and they both knew it. Blake gave a sigh and started walking toward him; Brandon did the same. Before they knew it, they were jogging, and then sprinting. Blake jumped into the air as Brandon swung from his right. His attack hit Blake and sent her in a spiral. Somehow her foot hit Brandon's face on the way down. The buzzer sounded but Blake couldn't make out what the professors were saying. She looked up at the board to tell who won, but when she did, everyone was out on both teams.

"This one is going to have to be reviewed." Blake made out Port's voice. She suddenly passed out from the exhaustion.

* * *

When Blake awoke, her team was standing around around her. Blake sat herself up and took a quick look around. They were on the outskirts of the arena. Blake took a deep breath.

"W-what happened?" She asked.

The three of them all looked at each other.

"Well, as far as we can tell, it was a tie. According to the footage, you kicked him as his attack landed on your foot, now they are trying to figure out which attack depleted whose aura level dropped below the safe zone first." Ruby said with a sigh.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from what we can tell, there are two factors per person on what depleted the combatants aura levels. For miss Belladonna, the factors are the fall and the attack made from mister Aeronwen. Mister Aeronwen on the other hand, could either be the kick from miss Belladonna, or the impact with the ground afterwards." Oobleck said.

"Based on close analysis, Mister Aeronwen's attack did not drop miss Belladonna's aura level past the safe zone. However, it does appear that the kick did drop mister Aeronwen's past the safe zone. Officials are still trying to determine that factor." Port added.

"One moment please." Oobleck's voice said.

"According to data from the video footage, mister Aeronwen's aura level did go past the safe zone, therefore, team RWBY of Beacon Academy are the winners of this round!" Port stated.

A series of applauding and happiness filled the arena. Blake was stunned by that outcome. She didn't think that she would be lucky like that, ever.

"Yeah, we did it guys!" Ruby said with excitement.

"I-I'm actually speechless." Yang said tossing her arms in the air.

"Well, I guess we need to keep you speechless so that our headaches can clear up." Weiss gave a chuckle and smiled at her teammate.

Yang glared back at her but pulled them all into a group hug.

"Our next match will begin in five minutes." Oobleck said.

"Come on guys, let's get off of the field." Weiss said walking toward the exit.

Yang gave Blake a hand and pulled her onto her feet. They walked into the inner arena to see some familiar faces

"I'm going to buy you guys lunch, that was amazing!" Steel said with his team behind him.

"And, you are going to buy our supplies for the rest of the year too right?" Yang piped up.

Team STRM went pale at the remark.

"Yeah, a bet is a bet, and we lost it." Steel said.

"Just don't go overboard on the spending, please." Mag said.

"Deal." Blake smiled.

"I'm buying for Blake, Steel is buying for Yang, Teal is buying for Ruby, and Rusty is buying for Weiss." Mag said noticing everyone nod.

"Alright, I'll buy lunch for everyone." Pyrrha said walking up to them.

"Oh, thank god." Steel whispered.

"Okay, if you're offering, I'm in." Rusty said.

"Race you guys there!" Ruby said in a burst of speed.

"But she doesn't know where we are going." Mag looked surprised.

"Ruby will meet us down at the docks when she realizes that." Yang shook her head and gave a smile.

"Alright, let's go!" Steel said taking off with everyone following him.

* * *

"Hey Nile, want to go Grimm hunting in the forest?" Elm asked as they walked into their room.

"Sure, Xplat, Clancy, do you guys want to come too?" Nile said.

"We have a job here you know." Clancy stated.

"And what exactly is that job?" Nile asked.

"Protecting the students of Beacon until the festival is over." Clancy replied.

"Oh come on, who is going to realize that we left?" Elm said rolling his eyes.

"I don't know." Clancy replied.

"Probably Goodwitch." Xplit said.

"Really, I'm not worried about her." Elm smiled.

"You guys can go if you want to, but you give each of us two percent of the lien you make from this job if you do so." Clancy said.

"Give four percent of our money to both of you. I'm in." Elm said.

"Fuck yeah, me too." Nile smiled.

"Of course you braindead idiots would." Xplat said, switching from Xplit.

"Shut up Xplat." Elm turned and picked up his staff.

"I mean, only a fool wouldn't be terrified of Goodwitch." Xplat smirked.

"I'm still going." Nile said picking up his shortsword and a quiver of arrows.

"Same here, see you guys later." Elm walked out of the room with Nile close behind.

"Still have to pay if you get caught." Clancy said as they closed the door.

"How much lien do we make normally for this mission." Xplat asked.

"About one hundred thousand, give or take." Clancy replied.

"And four percent of that is?".

"Four thousand." Clancy flopped down on his bed.

"Eight thousand just because they were bored? I like this job now." Xplat said with a smirk.

"Oh well, after this mission, we can lay back and relax for a bit." Clancy smiled.

"Ain't that the truth." Xplat lay back on her bed.

* * *

"Hey Elm, how much did we lose by doing this?" Nile asked unsheathing his sword as they walked into the Forest of Forever Fall.

"I don't know, I do weapons, not math." Elm replied.

"Oh well, let's find some Grimm." Nile turned his sword into a bow. The blade split in two and one part rolled along the hand guard. Nile tied the string on quickly and readied an arrow.

"Sssuusshh, I hear a Beowolf." Elm whispered.

"Dibs." Nile smiled and pulled an arrow back.

"Hey no fair, I heard him first." Elm spoke up a bit.

"But I called dibs, and you can't ignore the dibs rule." Nile replied making the arrow a bit more loose.

"My staff can, as well as my fist." Elm said.

"What, you going to hit me, airhead?" Nile mocked.

"Shut up, you're an airhead!" Elm shouted.

"No you're an airhead!" Nile shot back.

"Well, you're an airhead and a half!" Elm said fired up.

"No I'm not I'm-" Nile started but was cut off by a loud roar.

They looked to their left where the Beowolf was, to find an entire Beowolf pack.

"This is your fault." Elm said readying his staff.

"How?" Nile asked.

"I don't know, it just is." The two of them stood back to back as the Beowolves closed in.

"I think that the court is on my-" Nile started but was interrupted again by a howl.

"We'll settle this later." Elm said.

"Fine." Nile agreed.

The both of them sprang into action and started to slaughter the Beowolf pack before them.

* * *

"Those fight's today were awesome." Ruby said sporadically.

"Yeah, I hear that you guys as well as another team from Beacon are fighting tomorrow." Yang said taking a sip of her pop.

It was late in the evening and team RWBY, STRM, and JNPR were all talking at the fairgrounds.

"I think so, I'll have to re-check that." Steel smiled.

"Who is the other team from Beacon?" Mag asked.

"If I remember correctly, it is team JSTR." Weiss stated.

"Wait, Ryder is going to be fighting? Whoever the other team is, they're about to get their butts kicked." Mag said with confidence.

"What is the team that their fighting anyways?" Nora asked.

" I believe that te-" Weiss started when an airship flew overhead drowning out her voice.

"What the hell?" Weiss gazed up as the airship flew past them toward the arena.

"You were saying Weiss." Steel edged her on.

"I believe that the team that is going to be fighting team JSTR is team BOOP?" Weiss said surprised at their name.

"Where are they from? Ruby asked.

"I think that they are from Haven if I read it correctly." Pyrrha replied.

"I hope that there isn't a swamp." Mag said.

"Why's that? Hoping that they don't get a home field advantage?" Jaune asked.

"Probably, I don't know much about her teammates or how they fight together." Mag gave a sigh and gazed at the sky.

It was starting to give off the sunset look to it.

"Like sunsets?" Rusty asked.

"Well, it depends on my mood. If I'm sad, they warm my heart a bit. If not, I don't really notice them." Mag replied.

"Don't worry about Ryder, she will be fine." Ren said.

"I'm going to go, I have something that I want to look into." Blake stood up and started walking.

"What's she working on?" Jaune asked.

"I have a hunch, I will ask her about it later though." Ruby said.

"Also, team BOOP comes from Atlas not Haven." Weiss said holding up her scroll.

* * *

Blake walked up to a computer in the library and sat down. She logged in and started searching for something. She pulled up a site that listed a delivery service. She looked for the sites that the company serviced and became wide eyed when she didn't find Beacon academy on the list.

' _That's not right, why would a company service Beacon if there isn't a contract involved?_ ' Blake wondered.

She logged off and shut down the computer. Blake walked back to her dorm and pulled out her binder and a piece of paper.

" _Okay, these people might hold the key in figuring out what happened to Ozpin."_ Blake jotted down the company name, Star Transport Inc.

" _I need to figure out where one of their warehouses is."_ Blake thought. She pulled out her scroll and tried to find the whereabouts of at least one warehouse. All of the site's unfortunately blocked her entry.

" _What? That doesn't make sense?"_ Blake put her scroll down and lay down on her bed.

"At least there is a suspect now." Blake said as Ruby, Weiss and Yang walked into the room.

"Really, there is?" Weiss asked with a surprised tone.

"Yeah, that airship is owned by Star Transport Incorporated. They're a company that transports supplies all over Remanent. They only work when there is a contract involved though. I looked it up but none of their contracts were with Beacon or Amity Coliseum." Blake said.

"How does this make them suspicious?" Yang asked.

"The airship that interrupted Weiss, was owned by this company and headed for the coliseum." Blake said.

"People could be in trouble, we should tell somebody." Weiss said.

"I agree, we should inform Goodwitch." Ruby nodded.

"Yeah." Blake agreed.

"What are we waiting for then?" Yang asked.

"Nothing, but let me do the talking, alright?" Blake asked.

"Alright, sounds good." Ruby agreed while Weiss and Yang gave a simple nod.

* * *

"Come in." Goodwitch said from the other side of the door.

"Professor, may we speak to you?" Ruby asked.

"Of course, please sit down." Team RWBY sat down in front of her desk, she was still in her regular office despite her getting recognition to lead students at Beacon until a new headmaster could be selected.

"Professor, we believe that we have found a clue as to what happened to professor Ozpin." Blake said taking her seat.

"Really, do tell." Goodwitch looked directly into Blake's eyes setting her off a bit.

"W-well, a supply transport company known as Star Transport Incorporated made an unscheduled drop off at Amity coliseum." Blake replied.

"Unscheduled?" Goodwitch questioned.

"Yes, they only work in contracted business. Both Beacon Academy and Amity Coliseum were both not on the list of contracts that I managed to dig up." Blake said.

"I see." Goodwitch bowed her head to think for a moment. She gave a deep sigh and stood up.

"What do you need me to do?" She asked.

"We can't find any data on warehouse locations anywhere." Blake started.

"You need me to find their warehouses." Goodwitch smiled.

"Yes." Blake gave a nod.

"Alright, I will summon you and your team when I find something." Goodwitch gave a smile.

"Thank you professor." Team RWBY said.

"Oh, before you go, let's keep this between us." Goodwitch said. The four of them gave a nod and walked out of the room.

"I didn't think she would go for it." Yang sighed.

"I know what you mean." Weiss said.

"Let's get back to the room. Not a word about this to anyone." Blake said giving a death stare toward Yang.

"Oh come on Blake, give me some credit." Yang said.

"I'll give you a hand if you start running your mouth starts running to fast." Blake smiled

"Hey." Yang gave a high pitched cry causing everyone else in the elevator to laugh.

* * *

"Look who's back." Clancy said hearing the door open. He turned around to see Elm and Nile with their clothes tattered and cut.

"Don't ask." Nile said in between breaths.

"Oh come on, what happened?" Xplat asked with a giggle.

"One word." Elm started.

"Let me guess, Goodwitch." Clancy leaned in.

Both Nile and Elm gave a nod. Clancy and Xplit both started laughing hysterically with absolutely no sign of stopping.

"SHUT UP!" Both Elm and Nile shouted.

"I warned you guys, I warned you!" Xplat said still laughing.

"Shut up you two. It was totally worth any lien we didn't make, I still had fun." Elm rolled his eyes and flopped down on his bed.

"It wasn't that bad. We just got a very stern talking to." Nile said.

"What's with you clothes getting ripped to shreds then?" Xplit asked after switching from Xplat.

"Ursa major's." Elm gave a slight chuckle.

"How many?" Clancy asked.

"Umm, four." Elm said.

"Four? Xplat can take on that many." Xplit said

"Four for me plus the minor's and a king taijitu." Nile stated flopped on his face overshooting the bed.

"Why?" Clancy half chuckled.

"Why what? I think I almost broke my nose." Nlle said standing up.

"Why is half my team clumsy, and the other half arguing with themselves?" Clancy rolled his eyes to avoid the multiple death stares being thrown his way.

"Oh relax, you love us." Elm said with puppy dog eyes.

"You know you're terrible those." Clancy told Elm bluntly.

"Shut up!" Elm gave a sigh and the room was in silence.

"Well, now what do we do?" Xplat said, changing from Xplit.

"Hold on, I got a message." Clancy pulled out his scroll and read the text.

" _Would you and your team please report to my office ASAP."_ The text read.

"Guess that answers my question." Xplat said.

"Come on, let's go." Clancy pulled Elm on his feet and Xplat did the same with Nile.

"Oh come on, I'm beat." Elm complained.

"Yeah well that's you own fault isn't it?" Clancy shot back.

"No, it was Nile's idea." Elm yawned.

"You're just a joke." Xplat said rolling her eyes.

"No, life is a joke, I just choose to make it a funny one." Elm said.

"That's true." Nile said.

"Shut up already." Elm replied.

"Can we just get to her office?" Clancy gave a sigh and they were on their way.

* * *

"Well, let's check on the team lineups for tomorrow." Yang suggested

"Sure, I'll pull it up." Weiss said pulling out her scroll. The girls were in their dorm room after returning from Goodwitch's office and were quite bored.

"Let's see. first we have team ABRN of Haven vs team FNKI of Atlas. Next we have-" Weiss started before getting cut off by Ruby.

"When are team JSTR and team STRM fighting?" Ruby asked impatiently.

"According to this, they are the third and the fifth match. team JSTR vs team BOOP in the third. Team STRM vs team NAVY in the last match of the day." Weiss replied sounding a tad bit annoyed from getting cut off. There was a knock at the door, Ruby got up to go see who it was. Standing in the doorway was all of team STRM.

"Hey guys, come on in." Ruby said smiling. They walked inside and made themselves comfortable.

"Tomorrow's going to be fun isn't it?" Steel smiled.

"Yeah, we're going to kick ass." Rusty agreed.

"Or vice versa." Yang chuckled.

"Give Yang a hand for the shittiest insults in the history of Remnant." Rusty started slow clapping with a very unamused look on his face.

"Thank you, thank you. I try really hard." Yang gave a smile.

"You are good at comebacks too, damn." Rusty gave a sigh

"Have you met Yang before?" Ruby gave a slight chuckle

"I know the punny Yang, the annoying Yang, the hotheaded Yang, the-" Rusty started but received a swift punch in the stomach from a red eyed Yang.

Rusty fell to his knees and gave out a painful breath.

"One other thing you should know, don't insult her to much." Blake said helping the winded boy back onto his feet.

"Noted." Rusty wheezed.

"Don't beat him up too much." Mag said.

"Aww, you do care about me." Rusty smiled.

"No, I just want us as a team to be functioning as good as possible for our fight tomorrow." Mag rolled her eyes and gave a slight smile.

"Anywho, we need to be ready for this. Anyone want to do a sparring match with me?" Teal said taking out his weapon.

"Sure, that sounds like fun." Blake stood up with a smile.

"Good idea Teal, I'm in." Steel stood up and gave a stretch.

"I'll pass, I need to save my energy for the match." Mag said.

"I'll pass too." Weiss said with a yawn.

"Fine, let's do this." Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from her bed and stood at the door.

"You guys have fun now." Rusty said with a cough.

"But not too much fun." Yang smiled and the four of them left for the sparring room.

"Think we'll win, Mag?" Rusty asked.

"You guys will be just fine, we were." Weiss said laying back on her bed.

"But you guys almost lost, that was a really close match." Rusty said with concern.

"You guys have time to come up with some sort of strategy." Weiss pointed out.

"The only reason our fight was close is because we ran in there half blind." Yang crossed her arms and gave Rusty a look.

"Yang does have a point." Mag stated.

"Of course I do, just come up with a battle plan tonight and you guys will kick butt." Yang pounded her fists together to show off her enthusiasm.

"Alright, I guess that's a good plan." Mag said nodding her head. Weiss yawned again and could be heard too.

She hopped out of bed and went for her pyjamas.

"Sorry to kick you guys out, but I'm exhausted from today and I need some sleep." Weiss said giving out another yawn.

"We'll get out of your hair then." Mag said giving a tug on Rusty's arm.

"Yeah, sure, see you guys tomorrow!" Rusty said getting pulled out of the room.

"Let's wait for Steel and Teal to get back from training then let's form a plan." Mag said as they walked into their dorm.

"Umm okay." Rusty flopped down on his bed and gave a sigh.

Mag disappeared for a moment but came back a few seconds later with Trick Fouet in her hands. She took out her cleaning kit and started to get any hint of rust off of the blade. She pulled the clip for the pistol out and examined how much ammo she had left.

"You know, we're the only ones here." Rusty said catching Mag's attention.

"And?" She asked, giving him a look.

"And I'm a guy, your a girl, so you know." Rusty stood up.

"Just get to the point already." Mag went back to cleaning her weapon.

"Well, you know, I just thought that maybe, I don't know." Rusty scratched his head. Mag looked up at him after realizing what he was implying.

"Really Rusty, you're that immature?" Mag glared at him.

"I just thought that we could-" Rusty started before a katana's blade was up against his neck and Mag was behind him holding it.

"Okay okay, bad move on my part!" Rusty's heart was beating extremely fast.

"Yeah, no shit." Mag lowered her blade and teleported back to her bed. She closed up the cleaning kit and put it underneath her bed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not good at this kind of thing." Rusty gave a sigh and sat down on his bed.

"Well, asking me to sleep with you, not a good place to start." Mag said.

"I'm sorry, that was stupid of me." Rusty gave a sigh and lay back on his bed.

"You know, I still owe you half a dance." Rusty turned his head toward Mag who had a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I guess you do, got any music players?" Rusty asked.

"No, I was hoping that you did." Mag rolled her eyes and disappeared for a few more seconds before reappearing without her weapon.

"If we win tomorrow, I'll let it be a full dance." Mag said as she reappeared.

Rusty's eyes widened and a smile grew across his face.

"We are so not losing now." Rusty cracked his fingers and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm going to get ready for bed, see you in five." Mag pulled out pyjamas from a suitcase to the side of her bed and disappeared.

As she did, Steel and Teal walked into the room.

"Where is she going?" Teal asked

"Getting ready for bed, but before you guys do that to, we are coming up with a battle plan." Rusty said with a certain fire burning in his eyes.

"Determined, are we?" Teal smiled.

"You bet I am." Rusty replied. Mag appeared back in the room with her pyjamas on.

"Great, let's hatch us a plan shall we?" Rusty said.

"Alright, let's do this." Steel smiled.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_

 _RedMoose_ : I found them. *Sniffs dual wielded pens* *sighes* *looks readers right in the eye* I'm touching myself tonight.

Yang: *Starts laughing her ass off.*

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***plays Careless Whisper on a loud boom box***

 _Me: Are these references to something?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Plays music louder***

 _Ruby:_ I don't get what's going on

 _Yang:_ Yeah! Louder!

 _Mag:_ I don't really get it either Ruby.

 _rwbyfan5/RedMoose/Yang:_ **I FEEL SO UNSUUUUUURRRRE~ AS I TAKE YOUR HAND, AND LEAD YOU TO. THE. DANCE. FLOOOOOORR~!**

 _Me: Ruby, Mag, do you guys want to go get a coffee or something?_

 _RedMoose:_ GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE AND HAVE FUN.

 _Ruby/Mag:_ Sure. *Leaves with Spartan25798*

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Did you know that cancer in spanish is "el cancer"? Nox has the cure for el cancer. Actually, she has the cure for el everything. I wonder why Spartan25798 would want me to specifically mention the cure for cancer? I'll let you think about that one, dear readers.**


	19. Good Friends, and Bullets to Share

_**A.**_ **N.** _So, umm, should we just skip this A.N. and get to the story?_

 _RedMoose:_ Hmm, I'm not sure they are too much fun.

 _Yang:_ No! This is the only time I get my fourth wall breaks, damn it!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Nox demands author's' notes as sacrifice!**

 _RedMoose: No, god please no. Last time that happened I felt it in Australia._

 _Me: You've never been to Australia…. Or have you?_

 _RedMoose:_ You will never know.

 _Ruby:_ Where's Australia? What are these places? I want to go there!

 _Me: You've actually been there Ruby._

 _RedMoose:_ I think I heard something in the other room, I'm going to check it out. *leaves for a moment, comes back wide-eyed* Guys you won't believe who just showed up.

 _Me: It's not… Him, is it?_

 _RedMoose:_ So yeah... We should sort this out while they read the chapter.

 _Me: This is going to take a bit, so sit back, relax and read this chapter as slow as possible, okay readers. Yeah….._

* * *

 _ **Good Friends, and Bullets to Share**_

* * *

"What an amazing second match that was." Port enthusiastically said.

"Why, yes it was, Peter, I think that this next match though will be one of very mixed probability." Oobleck pushed his glasses up farther on his nose to secure them.

"Ah, yes, shall we announce our next combatants?" Port smiled.

"Our next match comprises of team JSTR from our home kingdom of Vale and Beacon academy, they are going up against quite an odd team originating from Atlas, team BOOP." Oobleck nodded.

"Now then, team JSTR. Their team comprises of their team leader, Josh Sandwin, and teammates, Sergai Nagont, Tanya Panzerfaust, and Ryder Pennyworth!" Port announced to the cheering crowd.

"And coming all the way from Atlas as I'm sure many have. Please welcome team BOOP. Team BOOP consists of Ochre Alani," He was wearing a leather over armor and his chestplate had an orangish tint. He also had a belt with pouches along his waist and another few pouches on his left leg to hold ammo. He had orange eyes and red hair with orange highlights near the tips of the hair.

"Opal Zerph," appeared to have hazel colored eyes and dirty blonde hair. She wore a cowboy hat with a black feather stuck inside the rim. She wore a red, blue and white plaid button shirt with brown pants and armor on her feet. She had a sheath for a greatsword on her back and two weapon holsters for handgun-looking weapons.

"Papyrus Humerus," He was a hyena faunus with brown ears on the top of his head. He had light brown eyes and sandy brown hair. He had a black spandex body suit and a large metal chestpiece. He wore a large scarf that was nearly the size of a cape and a blue codpiece. He also had red wool gloves and red boots. He also had a very large smile across his face and gave a wave to the audience.

"and team BOOP's leader Brina Hazel!" Who was wearing a short sleeved hazel t-shirt with black leggings. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. On forearms were bronze arm bracers and bronze shin guards. She had a large shield with some spikes on the front but no other signs of weapons.

"We are now selecting the biomes for the match." Port explained.

"It appears that the biomes are, an ice biome and a grassland biome." Oobleck said.

"Students, get ready." Port said. Silence fell across the arena, except on the field.

"Good luck you guys, on the other side." Papyrus smiled.

"Umm, thanks, you too." Josh nodded.

"I think we are going to win though, my brother said he would get us all a burger if we won." Papyrus gave a chuckle.

"Sorry to take that away from you then." Tanya said cracking her knuckles

"Nah ha ha, my brother S-" Papyrus started.

"Three!" Port said, interrupting him.

"Oh well, good chat humans!" Papyrus gave an odd chuckle.

"Yeah, good chat." Ryder said feeling a bit uneasy.

"Two." Port continued.

"Ready guys?" Josh asked.

"Ready!" Sergai, Tanya, and Ryder said together.

"One!" Port said. Everyone tensed up and took a deep breath.

"Begin!" Both team took off running at each other with Sergai running back toward the ice biome.

Josh had two shields that had the appearance of a jewish star when he presses a button, the shield would spin at the speed of a car's wheel. He ran up to Brina and dived her way. She held up her shield and braced for the impact. When the impact landed, a loud bang could be heard and Josh was sent flipping backwards. He landed on his feet and shook off the impact.

"That shield is dust compatible somehow, isn't it?" Josh glared at Brina who gave a smirk.

Josh planted his shields in the grassland behind him. He pressed the button and took off at an extreme speed.

"Yeah, go on and run." Brina said under her breath.

She checked her surroundings to look for her teammates.

"Hey!" Sergai shouted from the Ice biome.

Brina heard the sound and turned to look as a shot from Sergai's Staff/Sniper rifle slammed into her chest.

"Now, that's not fair. That shot was the size of an anti-tank round!" She said getting onto her knees. Sergai moved from his position out of Brina's sight.

"Heads up Brina, or you'll end up like goop." Papyrus said pulling her off of her knees.

"Thanks Pap." Brina said patting him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's win this thing." She ran off into the grasslands.

"Papyrus, give me a hand here!" Opal shouted while she blocked Tanya's attack from her tonfas.

"Oh, great." Tanya rolled her eyes.

Papyrus held his hand up and pointed at Tanya. her eyes widened as she realized that she was having trouble standing.

"Well, it looks like Papyrus Humerus has just activated his semblance." Port examined what was going on in the battlefield.

"Ah yes, Mr. Humerus' semblance puts more strain on a person or object's gravitational pull. As seen here, Ms. Panzerfaust is really having a hard time standing." Oobleck added.

"Oh that's bullshit." Tanya said trying to push against the amount of resistance put on her.

"You know, I'm on the bottom, AND THIS IS NOT REALLY HELPING!" Opal glared at him. Papyrus stopped using his semblance and Tanya fell forward from the sudden loss of resistance and fell backwards.

"Sorry, have a good flight, though." Pap apologized.

Opal pulled out a hand cannon and put it to the bottom of her neck. Right as he pulled the trigger, Tanya rolled out of the way and dodged the bullet.

"Huh?" Opal was stunned from the shock and Tanya hopped to her feet.

"Too slow. Next time, don't monologue." Tanya put the tonfas tip right up against Opal's chest and pulled a trigger.

Suddenly, burn dust came out of the tip of the Tonfa and scorched Opal's face. Opal gave out a yell of pain and backed up from the shock of the attack.

"Opal!" Ochre sprinted toward Tanya and drop kicked her.

She hit the ground and landed beside Ryder who was standing with her double barrelled rifle, Ivory. She started firing at the other two but the shots were blocked by the two of them.

"I will never understand how two machete's go on the front of a dual cylindrical revolver and become a double barreled shotgun." Tanya said getting onto her feet again.

"Yeah well, it's a rifle, but, anyway, heal up a bit." Ryder put her arm on Tanya's shoulder and her aura started glowing.

Tanya felt some of her aura level return and Opal looked at the both of them in shock.

"Thanks Ry." Tanya winked at her and ran toward Opal and Ochre with a rage building in her eyes. She put her tonfas together and they formed into a semi large rocket launcher.

"We need to regroup!" Ryder shouted.

"Agreed, Tanya, fall back." Josh said walking up to Ryder.

"Fine." Tanya flipped backward with her launcher in hand and landed behind the two of them.

"I told Sergai to cover us from the hill in the ice biome." Josh said quietly while the other team formed back together.

"Alright, Ryder, provide support for Tanya and I. Tanya, we're going to try and draw them into the grasslands." Josh gave a smile looking behind them.

"Let me guess, tornado tactic?" Ryder asked.

"You bet it is." Josh smiled.

Team BOOP started running at the three of them as they started backing into the grasslands. As they walked into the tall grass, a shot was heard from across the arena. The shot exploded behind the other team and they were sent off balance as they entered.

"Now!" Josh shouted.

Ryder focused her aura on Josh as he planted his shield in the ground. Suddenly, the ground around team BOOP started to rise. Josh essentially drove up the incline and placed himself at the top. The ground continued to rise and Tanya and Ryder posted themselves at the bottom of the rising spire.

"Go!" Ryder said focusing her semblance.

Josh started driving around the inner spire in a spiral form and started to drive down. He stopped about halfway down and dropped on top of them landing on Ochre. The spire suddenly dropped and Sergai, Tanya and Ryder started lighting up team BOOP.

"Papyrus!" Brina shouted trying to block the incoming shots and rockets.

"Neh ha ha, they fell for it." Papyrus laughed as he held his hands up and pointed toward Ryder and Tanya.

They both felt their gravitational pull increase and fell to their knees. Brina bashed Josh off of Ochre and he slid across the ground.

"Josh!" Tanya shouted trying to hold up a hand but couldn't due to the extreme force.

Brina jumped into the air and landed on Josh and a shockwave shot across the ground. The buzzer sounded and Josh was out.

"Sergai! What are you doing?!" Tanya shouted as a shot landed right into Papyrus's chest.

"Ow, wow wow wow wow wow." Papyrus cried as he slid across the floor.

His head dropped out of the arena but the buzzer didn't sound.

"Ryder, come on, get up!" Tanya ran to her friend to help her on her feet.

Ryder pushed her down and pulled up her revolver over her head and pulled the trigger hitting Opal in the chest.

"Don't mention it." Ryder said getting up.

"Well, it's still three to four." Brina taunted.

Tanya glanced up at the board to check everyone's stats.

"Three on three." Tanya pointed out.

"What do you mean by tha-" Brina started as a shot landed on her back and sent her flying out of the ring.

"That's what I mean." Tanya pulled her launcher back into her tonfas and Ryder pulled out her machetes.

"Papyrus! Get up and find that sniper!" Ochre yelled and Papyrus got up and started running. Ochre looked back and ducked as a shot flew past his head.

"The only downside to an anti-tank rifle is the fact that it's a one shot reload." Ryder pointed out.

"Yeah, I got that." Tanya started toward Opal and Ochre.

Opal started firing at Tanya who was running and blocking at the same time. Ryder was running behind her giving Tanya some support.

"Ryder, duck!" Tanya said stopping in her tracks and hopped up into the air.

Ryder slid under her legs and got to her feet and started sprinting again.

"Goose." Ryder smiled as her first machete Ivory landed into Opal's crossed handguns.

She swung her other Machete Dhahabu at Opal's waist. Opal Jumped into the air to dodge the hit while sending Ryder off balance by breaking the hold on her handguns.

Tanya ran at Ochre, tonfas at the ready. Ochre held his halberd attempting to block Tanya's attack. Ochre swung his halberd as Tanya uppercutted with her tonfas. The impact caused Ochre to stumble backwards a bit before gaining his footing again. He shot Tanya a look and they charged each other again. Ochre used his halberd's blade in a downswing causing Tanya to block. With the top of the blade inches from her face, she braced for the impact.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're stronger than you look?" Tanya was being pushed onto her knees by Ochre's strength overpowering her.

He shot her a smile and looked up from a sound of something. A gun loading a round into it, and close by too. Ochre kicked at Tanya's heel causing her to fall over. Tanya remained still for several seconds and Ochre prepared to chop at her head. As he did so, Tanya moved inches away from the blade and shot upward using his back as a step.

A bang was heard and a sniper shot whizzed past Ochre's head. He looked up in the direction of the shot to try and identify the sniper. He was puzzled but quickly checked his surroundings again

" _This one's going right between your eyes._ " Sergai thought as he loaded another round into the chamber of his rifle.

"Sorry, can't let you do that." Papyrus ran from around the corner and used his semblance forcing Sergai to the ground.

"Okay, really not a fair semblance." Sergai said trying to resist the pressure.

"Oh well, too bad for you, neh ha ha ha." Papyrus smiled.

"Tanya, Ryder!" Sergai tried to shout but had little effect.

Tanya looked at Ryder who swung at Opal's neck. Opal blocked the attack with her greatsword and the machete deflected off of the blade staggering Ryder. Tanya sprinted at Opal with all of her speed. She tried activating her semblance to prepare for the incoming attack.

" _It's coming from a slash at my chest."_ Tanya opened her eyes and slid under the greatswords swing and jabbed Opal's leg with her dust infused tonfa and brought her to her knees.

Opal pulled out one of her hand cannons but was quickly shot out of her hand by Ryder's revolver.

"Oh come on, really?" Opal gave a sigh as Tanya's tonfa slammed into her chest.

The buzzer rang and she was out. Another buzzer sounded and both Ryder and Tanya looked up at the board to see that Sergai was out of the match.

"That is not fair!" Sergai shouted from across the arena.

Tanya and Ryder looked at each other and checked the arena again to see the hyena faunus run across the middle and run up to his teammate.

"Okay, I guess it's two on two." Tanya said looking at the other two across the field.

"Yeah, let me transfer some aura to you, you're running on fumes right now." Ryder offered

"No, keep it, let's rush them." Tanya said starting toward her opponents.

Ryder followed close behind and transferred some of her aura into her revolver Solomon. She kept one of her machetes at the ready as well as her revolver. She stopped as they got closer and started firing at the two.

Tanya jumped up into the air to attack Ochre who blocked her attack with his halberd. He threw Tanya into the air and flipped to regain her balance. Ochre shot at her with the deaf sound of the SMG and many of the shots hit her but most were blocked by her tonfas Tanya checked to see how Ryder was doing quickly but was interrupted by a halberd blade being swung at her neck.

She retaliated and slammed the tonfa into Ochre's head and knocked him off balance. She pelted him with attacks and knocked him out of the match. She felt herself get tired and ran to help out Ryder who was at the mercy of Papyrus semblance. She slammed into his back and broke the semblance restraining Ryder. Papyrus focused his semblance on Tanya as she jumped into the air. With the increased force against her, Tanya fell to the ground and the buzzer rang out.

"I hate that semblance." Tanya gasped as she caught her breath

"Oh well, I guess I win this round. You know, you actually came pretty close to taking me-" Papyrus gave a chuckle as a shot landed in his back from Ryder. the buzzer rang out as Papyrus fell to the floor.

"Out." Papyrus finished his sentence.

"And the winners of the match are team JSTR of Beacon." Oobleck said pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"You took your sweet time doing that." Tanya said getting onto her feet and shaking herself off.

"Sorry, I had to reload." Ryder gave a sigh and started walking toward the exit.

" _You're no fun…"_ Tanya smiled and followed her out of the arena. The arena began to reset itself and the next team battle was put up onto the screen.

"See Mag, they were fine." Rusty gave her a pat on the back and Mag rolled her eyes.

"You guys ready? Our fight is after this one." Steel said.

"We should go get our weapons while we have a chance." Teal pointed out.

"Good idea, let's." Mag stood up and started walking toward the arena's exit without another word.

The boys looked at each other and followed her out. They walked out onto the docks and called their weapon lockers. Mag pulled her weapon out and put it in her sheath on her back. Steel, Teal And Rusty put their weapons away and went back into the stadium.

"And what an amazing fight we have here at the moment!" Oobleck exclaimed to the audience.

"Come on guys, let's go down to the arena and wait there." Steel suggested.

The others gave a nod and walked down to the arena's entrance. and Port's voice shouted out across the speakers.

"And with that, team FNKI defeats team THDR!" Mag put her hands over her ears to cancel out the noise of the speaker right beside her ear.

"You alright Mag?" Rusty asked.

"Yeah, that was just really loud in my ear." Mag replied letting the ringing settle down in her ears.

They gave a sigh and witnessed the team ahead of them walk off of the field.

"Our next match will begin in a few minutes. This will also be the last round of the team matches for the tournament. I hope this will keep all of you fans on the edge of your seats." Oobleck said over the speakers.

"Last fight, then let's make it count." Rusty said with a small bit of enthusiasm.

"Ah, I was hoping we could catch up with you before your match." Ruby said from behind them.

"Sure, what is it?" Steel asked.

"You know that transport company we've been investigating?" Blake asked after checking around to make sure no one was around.

"Yeah, what did you guys find?" Teal replied.

"Well, we asked Goodwitch to see if she could figure out where some of the warehouses are, and she came up with two locations, but not the exact place of each." Ruby said

"Well, what does that mean?" Mag asked

"It means we know the general location, but not the exact one." Weiss explained

"Okay, where are they?" Rusty piped up.

"One is close by in the ruined city of Mountain Glenn and the other one is somewhere in Mistrial." Blake answered.

"We are hopefully going to be able to investigate these locations after the tournament is over." Weiss added.

"Thanks for the heads up." Steel smiled.

"No problem, good luck out there." Blake smiled back.

"Thank's Rusty will need it the most though." Mag smirked.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Rusty straightened his back in an effort to make himself look taller and a bit more intimidating.

"Three minutes, teams, please come down to the field as soon as possible." Port said.

"Guess this is it." Steel said.

"You say that like we will never see each other again." Ruby tilted her head to Steel comments and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! I didn't mean it like that, I, um,-" Steel's words were all over the place as he spoke causing everyone else to laugh.

"I'll buy you guys lunch if you win." Weiss said holding up her card.

"Okay, absolutely no way we are losing now!" Rusty said loudly shocking everyone.

"Good luck, you four." Yang said as she turned to go up to the stands.

"Thanks!" Mag yelled back.

The four walked out into the stadium and looked up at the groups of people in the stands.

"Wow, this is a lot more intimidating down here isn't it?" Rusty asked.

"Yeah, I guess it it." Mag felt a shiver run down her spine but she kept her cool about the idea. They walked into the center of the arena and waited for the other team to walk out. They waited for several minutes before an announcement came out over the speakers.

"Would team NAVY please report to the stadium, your match is beginning momentarily." Oobleck said calmly.

"If they don't show up, do we win by forfeit?" Rusty asked.

"I guess if they want to keep some sort of schedule. That's an accurate assumption." Mag replied giving a sigh.

A few minutes later, another announcement came on the speakers.

"Team NAVY, if you are not here in five minutes, you will be disqualified." Port said in a more strict tone.

"I guess that answers my question." Rusty said.

Everyone was sitting down to save their leg strength incase there actually was a match. Suddenly, the door opened on the other side of the arena and four people walked into the arena.

"About damn time they showed up." Rusty said getting onto his feet.

The rest of team STRM got onto their feet and readied themselves.

"Sorry, we're late, we had some ammunition troubles." One of the boys said.

"Oh no problem, I just lost some of the valuable time that I have left on this world. No biggy." Rusty gave a stretch and earned a glare from the members of team NAVY.

"Sorry for the delay for everyone watching at home." Port said coming onto the speakers again.

"Yes, we had some time judgement issues with one of the teams. Speaking of teams, why don't you tell us who is in the arena today Peter." Oobleck said.

"Well, our home team of the last teams match of this year is team STRM! They comprise of Teal Su, Rusty Stof, Magenta Jasney, and the team's leader, Steel Storm. They act mostly as a support team on various occasions, but are not to be trifled with lightly." Port said and Rusty waved to the audience with a smirk on his face.

"Ahh yes, Peter, but their opponents are no pushover either. Team NAVY's team comprises of the teammates Ace Arrow," who was wearing a Black trench coat with a black shirt underneath. He had black jeans and shoes and aviators on his brow. He had deep red eyes, and dark gray hair. He held what looked to be like a deck of playing cards in his hands.

"Viper Venom," She had green eyes, almost the shade of acid, and black hair with hints of green highlights all around, she had on green yoga pants, and a green tank top with thin black boots to add to her appearance.

"As well as Yin Blanc," He had almost golden hair aside from some white streaks here and there, as well as eyes. He had a white robe with a golden belt as well as yellow combat pants and white boots.

"And team NAVY's leader, Nitro Nova!" He gazed upon team STRM with his blue, nearly glowing eyes. He had black combat pants, a black and blue sleeveless shirt and boxing wraps on his hands.

There was a slight rumble as they finished explaining team NAVY.

"What was that?" Rusty asked.

"I don't know, maybe the dust supply for the stadium is running low." Steel replied.

"And on our other team, we have Magenta Jasney, Rusty Stof, Teal Su, and of course their leader, Steel Storm!" Port announced. The ground shook again for a moment and a loud bang was heard from inside the arena

"What the hell was that?!" Nitro asked looking around the stadium like many others for the source of the noise.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are sad to inform you that this match must be put on hold due to an anonymous tip of a large dust weapon inside of the stadium. Due to safety reasons, we must issue an evacuation of the stadium." Oobleck said over the intercom.

"You've got to be shitting me, right?" Ace threw his aviators to the ground in a rage.

"Please leave the stadium in a calm and orderly manner." Port said and both him and Dr. Oobleck left their positions to leave as well.

"Come on guys, let's get out of here." Steel said checking his surroundings once more.

"Right, let's head for one of the airships that will take us back to Beacon." Mag agreed.

The four of them started toward the door. As they got close, it opened and another team was standing there.

"Guys, come on!" They heard Yang shout.

They ran inside and the eight of them started running toward the airships. They ran into open air and into the line up of people waiting to get on board an airship. Suddenly, loud blasts started erupting around the perimeter of the arena.

"What's going on?" Teal asked in a frenzy.

Then, the ship in front of them exploded and screams of pain from the inside were heard. The ship tried to take off but the engine was damaged and it spun out of control.

"We're stuck up here now." Blake said making her observation.

Another explosion from underneath the stadium sounded and the whole coliseum started shaking.

"I think we should get off of this, right now!" Steel said.

He looked over the edge to see how far of a drop it was.

"It's too high up, we probably wouldn't survive if we jumped." Blake pulled him away from the edge and pointed to the side of the stadium that was slanting.

"Blake's right, we should look for another option." Ruby said.

"I've got an idea, follow me!" Steel took off toward the slanting coliseum's edge and stayed close to the edge.

"Where are we going?" Weiss asked.

"We're going to jump, but there should be less of a fall on the slanted side when we do." Steel explained.

"We'll all probably break something from this, try to land on that tower there." Teal pointed to a lone spire that was almost right underneath them.

"Okay, Mag, go first, that way if one of us falls, you can catch them." Steel said.

Mag gave a look of shock but nodded. She ran off of the edge and landed on the rooftop.

"Jump!" Mag shouted to her friends above.

One after another, they all jumped. Rusty looked off of the edge and backed up.

"Rusty, jump damn it!" Teal shouted up to the only person who hadn't jumped yet.

"Okay." Rusty took a running start and jumped for the spire.

He landed on his leg and fell on his face.

"Safe." Rusty said, suddenly, he felt himself sliding. "Fuck, I jinxed myself!"

Rusty slid off of the spire and braced himself for the fall that was the ground. Rusty closed his eyes and took a breath. He felt something hit him and he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Rusty, Rusty, Rusty!" he heard someone say, he couldn't make out who the voice belonged to, but he definitely knew it.

"What the hell happened?" Rusty said, opening his eyes to the look of a shocked Mag.

"Oh thank god." Mag gave a sigh of relief and gave him a smile, "You landed on the spire and slid off, after that I teleported to catch you. I think you might have broken something though." she told him.

"What do you mean bro-ho- HOLY FUCKING SHIT, MY LEG!" Rusty fell over from the pain.

"Steel said not to heal you until you woke up, just to make sure his semblance could actually heal you properly." Teal patted his friend on the arm and gave him a smile.

"We-well, what the fu-ah-ah-ah!" Rusty tried saying but the pain overwhelmed him.

"You shattered your right femur according to doctor Steel." Mag said with a sigh.

"My what now?" Rusty managed to say.

"You know, your thigh bone." Teal clarified.

"So, I can't walk until Steel fixes me up huh?" Rusty said letting his aura block as much of the pain as possible.

"Yeah, just hold in there, alright hot shot?" Teal said, standing up. "I'll go get you some water." he walked out of the room and it was just the two of them.

"So, I'm injured, waiting for the doctor right?" Rusty asked Mag catching her by surprise.

"Uhh, yeah, that about sums it up I think." Mag agreed.

"Well, since you're here making sure I'm alright, that must make you the hot nurse right?" Rusty said with a smirk.

Mag gave him a look and playfully hit him in the arm.

"Ouch, that hurts my leg too, you know." Rusty said.

"Just don't move too much okay." Mag said sighing again.

"What? What's going through your mind?" Rusty asked.

"I almost lost my friend today, my teammate, the guy who fails to hit on girls, especially me." Mag looked up to the ceiling with wonder in her eyes.

"Yeah, well that asshole's one tough cookie." Rusty said laying back a bit.

Steel ran into the room where the two of them were and kneeled down beside Rusty.

"Are you okay? Look, I'm going to fix you, alright." Steel caught his breath and shook off the feeling that had possessed his body.

He placed his hand on Rusty's neck and their aura's started glowing. After a couple minutes, the aura pulse leveled down and Rusty was alright.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Rusty said, starting to get up but was quickly stopped by Steel.

"Don't move too much, or that won't heal. My semblance has only taken away your pain, but it is fixing your leg up as we speak." Steel gave Rusty a look of honesty.

"Okay, got it." Rusty sat back down and let his leg rest.

"Team RWBY's worried about you, they were all asking if you'd be alright." Steel said.

"Well, let them see for themselves I guess." Rusty said, smiling.

"Guy's, come on in." Steel opened the door and the four girls walked up to his side.

"Someone took quite a fall didn't they?" Blake joked.

"Yeah, what's up man, hand eye coordination getting, _Rusty?_ " Yang added.

Weiss smacked her on the back of the head with a stern look.

"What happened out there anyway?" Everyone turned away from Rusty's gaze and simultaneously gave a sigh.

"Something triggered explosions around Amity Coliseum, by the time you woke up, Amity crashed into the CCT and knocked it down." Blake said.

"What about all the people?" Rusty's eyes went wide.

"We don't know, communications are down across all four kingdoms." Weiss said.

"We're kind of in the dark here." Yang added.

"Well, that's just fucking perfect." Rusty sighed.

"Once you heal up, we're going to investigate the crash site and help out any way we can." Ruby said trying to force a smile.

"Then this leg better heal very fucking fast." Rusty gave a smile and felt himself getting drowsy.

"We'll be waiting somewhere, give us a holler when you heal up." Yang said turning for the door.

"Yeah, will do." Rusty felt himself get tired and fell asleep.

* * *

"Hey, your leg should be better now, come on, get up." Steel shook Rusty onto his feet and he sat up.

"Yeah, it feels better than before!" Rusty confidently said.

"Come on, get your weapon, we're leaving for the Amity crash site." Steel said.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Rusty said after a minute.

"Okay, let's get going." Rusty and Steel walked out of the spire and met up with everyone else.

"You good?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Rusty replied.

They walked through some of the rubble left over from the fallen coliseum and approached the evac zone.

"Is there anyone else that we can detect?" One of the men said.

"There is a girl, but she's under a ton of rock a rubble, we'd never be able to reach her in time." The other man said.

"Stay here with them." The man said running toward the rubble.

"Hey!" Yang called out to the man.

"We're here to help!" Steel added.

"Good, we could use some extra hands." he said as team RWBY and STRM walked up to him.

"Clancy, you are one stupid mother fucker for going in to save one girl." The guy yelled.

"Yeah, well, she's safe now that I phased her out of there." Clancy replied. The rock came loose behind Clancy, caving in a small area.

"Hey, I remember you, you're that guy who tried to put a shotgun component on his staff." Ruby piped up causing the man to turn.

"Hey, come to think of it, I do remember you. Ruby, right?" The man asked.

"Yes, Mr. Elm." Ruby mocked.

"Good to see you, pipsqueak." Elm chuckled. "And umm, it's Mr. Zaffre to you."

"I don't mean to interrupt but this girl needs help, like right now!" Clancy said calling them over.

"Velvet?!" Blake ran over to the faunus girl and held her hand.

"Blake?" She asked dazed.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Blake asked.

"I'll be fine, I think." Velvet replied.

"Steel, help her!" Blake called her friend over and he started using his semblance.

"Okay, I don't know what we can really do aside from try to move some of this rubble out of the way." Ruby said.

"I can teleport, just remember that." Mag smiled.

"I know, let's go save some people alright!" Ruby said.

"Right!" The rest of them replied.

* * *

 **A.N.:** _So, that just happened_

 _Mag: Quick question, what is going on with Rusty?_

 _Me: That's something you'll have to talk to Rusty about Mag_

 _RedMoose_ : So... yeah i'm surprised that Rusty didn't sever his femoral artery when he shattered his femur; he was ridiculously close to bleeding out right there and nothing Steel could have done would have been able to save him. So props to him.

 _Elm: Hey where am I? and why does this RedMoose look like younger me….? Anyway I came to tell you guys Rusty wants to get the girl._

 _Mag:_ I, umm, I don't think that he wants me. I don't think anyone does... come to think of it

 _Me: Hey, don't undermine yourself too much Mag, you are a smart, funny and attractive girl._

 _Elm:_ Sounds to me like he wants to get in your pants Mag.

 _Mag:_ Wh-wha-what? Th-th-thats…

 _Me: Elm! Why did you do that? She's scared even more now_

 _RedMoose:_ Why are you looking at me?

 _Elm: Because you and I are the same person from different universes._

 _Me: In case you didn't realize readers, this is the *Problem* we've been trying to solve all chapter…_

 _Elm:_ Hey Clancy get your ass in here! I got someone for you to meet!

 _Me: Where do I know that name from…_

 _RedMoose:_ Let me guess he is Spartan25798 from the other universe. Well now we have even more problems to sort out now. I guess wait till the next chapter and we may have this sorted out….. But probably not.

 _Me: This is going to take a fucking week to sort this out._


	20. Aftermath

_**A.N.:**_ _Umm, what's going on? I just woke up from a nap._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Well, we** _ **were**_ **going to draw funny sacrificial symbols on your face in the name of Nox, but now you've ruined it. Thank you very little. :3**

 _Me: Well, it's a good thing I woke up then, otherwise the readers couldn't read this awesome chapter I wrote, and you edited, right?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Awesome is in the eye of the beholder, Spartan.**

 _RedMoose:_ [Something about lameness and losing a pen, probably. Maybe a Deadpool reference]

 _Me: Well, come on, I, umm… I don't know how to respond to that…_

 _RedMoose:_ [Response about totally not putting his dialogue in at the last minute]

 _rwbyfan5:_ **I could not agree more with whatever you just said RedMoose, though I'm more of an ass man myself.**

 _Me: Time is an interesting concept, is-_

 _Yang:_ NO! IT'S REALLY FUCKING BORING!

 _RedMoose:_ Well, you know what I always say? That. Whatever the last person said.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Should we just...** _ **cut**_ **to the chase?**

 _Me: Yeah, good idea…_

* * *

 **Aftermath**

* * *

"How many people are still in there?" Mag asked panting from exhaustion.

"I think we got most of them from what I can see." Teal sat down from exhaustion and gave a sigh.

"Don't stress yourself Teal, just do your best and we'll get those people out of there." Steel said patting him on the back.

"I guess you're right." Teal gave another sigh and felt a smile crawl across his face.

"You know, we're a pretty good team don't you think." Clancy said walking over to them.

"Yeah, I guess we're efficient at this, but we could be doing this faster." Mag said with a sigh.

"It's a good plan, you teleport us in, Teal finds the people and I get through any debris. I'd say we're pretty efficient at this." Clancy said.

"More than some I'd say." Teal agreed.

"We'll get as many of those people out as we can, okay Mag." Clancy said.

"Okay, let's just hurry and get back at it." Mag replied.

"Hey! I thought you hero's might need something to drink." Ruby said walking over to them with water bottles.

"Thanks." Clancy said taking one of the bottles.

"Just so you know, that's not water, it's some kind of energy drink that Yang won't let me have." Ruby said.

"Where did you find this?" Teal asked taking one of the bottles.

"Umm, we found them in a store down the street a ways." Ruby replied with a smile.

"Who went?" Clancy asked.

"Umm two others, one was a huntsman and the other a huntress." Ruby replied.

"Did one have Navy colored hair and the other either a dark red or a light blue?" Clancy asked curiously.

"Yeah, sometimes she would have blue hair, then poof, it would be red." Ruby smiled.

"Those are my teammates, Xplit, Xplat, and Nile." Clancy said putting the bottle down on the floor.

"Cool, I didn't even know that!" Ruby replied.

"We should get back at it now." Teal said to the group.

"Okay, see you guys later." Ruby said taking off the direction she came.

"Well then let's get back to it." Mag said.

* * *

"How did today's search go?" Goodwitch asked as Clancy walked into the room.

"Well, that Teal guy says that we got everyone that he can pick up, but there could still be more according to him." Clancy replied.

"I wanted to talk to you about something that was brought to my attention before the attack." Goodwitch gave a sigh and looked directly into Clancy's eyes.

"Okay, shoot." Clancy said.

"As of right now, there are ten teams that have no injured team members and are all accounted for. People are helping out in whatever way they can." Goodwitch paused briefly. " One of my students and her team brought me a suspicion of theirs. There was an unscheduled airship that arrived at Amity Coliseum. They believe that this was the cause of the attack that happened recently."

"Oh, well, that does seem interesting, but what do you want us to do about it?" Clancy replied.

"I want you to take four teams to Mountain Glenn as well as your own and search for this company's old warehouse." Goodwitch replied.

"But what about the people here? They need help." Clancy replied.

"Steel, one of our students at Beacon, was granted the semblance of healing one's physical wounds and internal infections. He's taken a look at all of the people that you've pulled out of the rubble and healed those with broken limbs and dangerous infections." Goodwitch replied.

"And the point is?" Clancy said.

"No one here right now is in critical condition at the moment." Goodwitch replied.

"Okay, so how do we get there? When do we leave? And who are we taking along?" Clancy said.

"I would like to start setting this up as soon as possible. I've got one airship that luckily wasn't caught in the blast. As for what four teams, that's up to you." Goodwitch answered.

"Okay, I'll let you know in the morning." Clancy said, "I'm not going to Beacon tonight, I'll just use the shelter that they set up here." Clancy said walking out of the room.

* * *

"How are you guys doing with all of this?" Ruby asked, they were back at Beacon in the cafeteria with team JNPR and STRM as well.

"I don't know, I've just tried not to think about it I guess, but help out however possible." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, I'm the same way, it's just so much to take in, you know." Steel said.

"You've actually had to see the people in their pain though, I can't even begin to imagine that." Ren said.

"I don't have it as bad as you two." Steel said looking at Teal and Mag.

"Mag has it worse, I rarely ever see the people they pull out." Teal said with a sigh.

"I guess, but you still see them with your semblance, right?" Jaune asked.

"My semblance gets weaker as people get farther away." Teal said "When they're close, I can make out features on them, like hair colour, what they're wearing, things like that."

"So, there could still be people down there?" Mag's eyes widened at the thought.

"I don't think so, that was far, but I could see until almost the other side of the arena." Teal replied.

"That sets my mind at ease a bit, thanks." Mag said.

"What did you guys do to help?" Ruby asked.

"Jaune and I asked around for any donations from the people around town, everyone seems very traumatized from what happened." Pyrrha said.

"And did Jaune make a good packmule?" Yang asked.

"We both carried the equipment that people gave up." Jaune defended.

"Ren and I did the same job as them, it was kind of fun actually." Nora said.

"What about you Yang, what did you do?" Weiss asked.

"Ruby, Blake and I got food and medicine around to the people who needed it." Yang said.

"Hmm, what happened anyways?" Steel asked.

"People watching from the outside saw explosions all around the coliseum and then the stadium start to drift sideways." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, then the communication tower went down and it's been like this since." Jaune added.

"Do you think it was the same people that attacked Ozpin?" Yang looked at Blake who obviously was thinking the same thing as her. She gave a nod and looked up at the rest of them.

"I think that it was, that's what the ship could have been delivering." Weiss pointed out.

"That's a good point." Blake said in agreement.

"Great, we've got a starting point to base this mystery off of." Rusty said.

"Yeah, I guess we do." Ruby said in agreement.

"Let's just help out as much as we can with the problem at hand before we jump down another rabbit hole here, okay?" Steel said.

"I agree, to bring up this hunch again would cause more harm than good." Blake said.

"Then what do we do about this." Yang asked.

"Again, we should help out any injured people around the site in any way we can." Ruby said.

"That sounds like a plan." Weiss said.

"Hey, I was hoping I would find you guys here." Clancy said walking up to them.

"Oh, hi. Umm, is there a problem?" Mag asked.

"No, no, everything's fine, I just need to talk to you guys for a minute." Clancy replied.

"Well take a seat, I'm sure that none of us will bite, except maybe him." Yang said pointing to Steel who glared back at her.

"Well, there is a reason I'm here so I'll get to the point. Goodwitch has looked into your data that you gave her and has decided to send out a medium sized recon team to Mountain Glenn."

"Really? What's there, and isn't the place abandoned?" Blake asked.

"I was getting to that, anyway, Goodwitch said you needed help tracking down the location of one of the Star Transport warehouses. Well, we know where they are, just not where exactly" Clancy said.

"Umm, okay." Yang said in a tone that would make Clancy explain what he meant.

"We know where they are, just not which one exactly." Clancy said.

"Oh, okay, so you wanted to just tell us that or…" Ruby paused waiting for his answer.

"You three, will come with me to Mountain Glenn." He said pointing to Jaune, Steel, and Ruby.

"What about our teammates?" Jaune asked.

"Why is it that when I'm talking, nobody let's me finish what I was going to say?" Clancy gave a sigh and continued. "You three and your teams will accompany me and my team to Mountain Glenn."

"Well, you're a team of four, right?" Steel asked.

"Yeah, I know where you're going with this and we already have another possible team to accompany us." Clancy said.

"But what about the people here? They still need help!" Blake protested.

"Well, thanks to Steel, nobody is seriously injured anymore. Everyone has a few cuts and bruises here and there, but everyone will be fine." Clancy assured her.

"You're positive that nobody else needs our help?" Blake stared at him.

"Yes, we got everyone out that we could, according to Teal, there are no other survivors." Clancy said with a sigh.

"Okay, I guess we'll check out Mountain Glenn then." Blake said.

"Great, I will see you guys at the camp tomorrow." Clancy said turning away and letting them go back to their conversation.

* * *

"Looks like you guys arrived here before the other team." Nile said as they walked into the main tent.

"We're here early?" Yang said surprised.

"Well, that's my doing, Goodwitch said that there are some of you who are *cough* heavy sleepers." Clancy smiled toward Rusty and Yang who both gave shocked expressions on their faces.

"Oh thank god, I thought we were going to be late for this." Weiss said giving a sigh of relief.

"Hey, we're here!" The sound of Tanya Panzerfaust came from the other side of the tent's screen.

"Please, come in." Goodwitch said calmly.

"Well, okay." Tanya said opening the tents screen.

"So these are the other teams, then?" Josh said making his assumption.

"Yes, have you met before?" Clancy asked.

"I've met one of them." Ryder replied pointing to Mag.

She gave her a smile and a wave.

"I see, well then, team JSTR, these are teams RWBY, JNPR and STRM." Goodwitch said.

"Well, we'll be heading to Mountain Glenn to-" Clancy started.

"Yeah, we know, Mount Glenn, find things at a warehouse, come back with info. We've been briefed on this already." Tanya said sarcastically.

"Oh well, let's get down there then, we do have a transport, right Goodwitch?" Elm asked.

"What if I told you that we didn't?" Goodwitch grew a smirk across her face as Elm's expression turned from wonder to fear.

"No! I refuse to go if that is the case!" Elm said.

"Why? It's only like a three hour hike from here, I think." Steel said sounding surprised.

"Three hours?! Fuck that and give it to your grandma on some holiday!" Elm replied swiftly.

Everyone broke out laughing at the sudden comment except Clancy who just face palmed and gave a deep sigh.

"Yes, we have a single transport for you. Because we only have one though, it might be a little cramped." Goodwitch said.

"Oh thank the fucking gods, whoever they may be!" Elm said putting his hands up to the sky in a praying motion.

"Come on, we need to get moving. We're burning too much daylight!" Xplat shouted.

"Oh, go masturbate in a corner Xplat, we're going in like an hour." Elm said.

"Hey!" Yang shouted covering the beet red Ruby's ears.

Ruby had a very shocked, almost fearful expression on her face.

"I'm with Xplat on this one, we should get moving." Clancy said.

"Fine! You can go masturbate in a corner too! I'm going to go get my stuff." Elm said storming out of the tent.

"You know, by the time he gets back, it's going to be an hour anyways right?" Xplit said.

"I know, I just made him go get his stuff so we didn't have to wait two hours instead." Clancy replied.

"Oooh, reverse psychology, I like it." Yang said taking her hands off of Ruby's ears.

"We'll chat more once we get down there." Clancy said.

"Sounds good." Steel replied.

"I'll, call you guys when we're ready." Clancy said.

"Right." They all replied triumphantly.

* * *

They all looked down and started taking a short jump off of the airship. Once they all got off, the airship took off again to go back to Beacon. The five teams took a quick look around the area to figure out what was going on.

"I've heard the stories of Mountain Glenn, but I didn't think that it would be like this." Steel said in a depressing tone.

"Neither did I. I knew it was overrun by Grimm but this is way worse than I thought." Blake said in awe.

"Oh come on you guys, where is your sense of adventure?" Nile asked taking a deep breath.

"So, there are four possible locations around Mountain Glenn, I think we should set up a base camp and then split up into teams of five. Since you guys are already in teams, you might as well stick to them and us Hunters will divide amongst you." Clancy said with confidence.

"Oh!" Elm said suddenly raising his hand.

"Yes, Elm?" Clancy awaited the man's answer.

"I call dibs on the pipsqueak's team!" Elm said smiling.

"What?" Clancy asked.

"The pipsqueak, blondie, that one with the sick bow, and Ice Queen." Elm explained getting a "Hey!" from Weiss.

"I guess that works, we'll set up camp first though." Clancy said.

"Umm, while you guys were busy talking, Mag, Blake, team JSTR and I set up the camp." Ruby poked Clancy on the shoulder and pointed to a building with a fire lit in it.

"Wait! How on the face of Remnant did you set that up so fast!?" Clancy asked in shock.

"It's called, determination!" Ruby said with a smile.

"Well then, I've officially given up on leading this expedition." Clancy said with a sigh.

"Hey! Don't beat yourself up over this little thing! WE'VE GOT TO BE ON OUR GUARD AT ALL TIMES!" Yang shouted loudly.

"Yang. Be quiet, there could be Grimm around." Blake said running up to her and putting a hand over her mouth.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking." Yang pouted after Blake removed her hand.

"Come on, let's break up the teams then." Xplit said, bringing everyone together.

"Alright, we've established that Elm will take team RWBY, I can take team JNPR, Nile will take team JSTR, and Xplit-" Clancy was cut off.

"I'm Xplat, Damnit!" Xplat shouted.

"Sorry, _Xplat_ will take team STRM." Clancy finished.

"Honestly, you've been with us for how long now? And you still mix them up?" Elm said with a look on his face.

"I'm almost entirely color blind, okay!" Clancy shouted in defence.

"Then how do you tell us apart sometimes?" Xplat questioned.

"Umm, w-when you're Xplat, you've got more, how do I say it ...bust…?" Clancy said stuttering.

"Elm, I'm going to hold him still. You hit him in the balls with your semblance as hard as you can." Xplat tackled Clancy and pinned him to the ground.

"N-n-no w-wait, let's talk about this!" Clancy said panicking.

"If I'm hitting Clancy, it's going to be, how do I put this into words? He won't see it coming until he's in the air. Even when he notices it, he'll still be in the air." Elm said.

"Oh thank god." Clancy sighed with relief.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." Xplat punched Clancy as hard as she could in his nether regions. As she did, there was a flash and Xplat's hair turned from blue to red as she changed to Xplit. She blinked for a second and got her bearings. She looked up at Clancy who had the look of unimaginable pain on his face and looked down to where her hand was.

"Clancy? What is going on?" Xplit asked in shock. He let out a groan of pain and wheezed. Xplit's eyes widened as her mind explored her thoughts and found the most sensible one. She slapped Clancy across the face and he fell to his knees.

"Why are you doing such lewd things with my sister!? And more importantly, with part of my body?!" Xplit cried out "We're on a mission no less! Honestly, you two need to grow up!" Clancy gave a sigh and relaxed a bit. Xlpit saw this as not listening to her and kicked him in the crotch.

"WHY!" Clancy screeched and rolled over in pain. There was a flash around Xplit as she changed back into Xplat. Xplat walked away from the mess that was Clancy and turned to the rest of the group.

"Okay, remind me never to get on either of your nerves." Rusty said with a large hint of fear in his eyes.

"You'll know if you get on my nerves, trust me." Xplat smiled proudly.

"Y-yeah, okay." Rusty said taking a deep breath.

"I guess we should get moving to then, let's go team Pipsqueak." Elm said happily.

"Just because you're leading their team doesn't mean you're leader of ours too." Clancy wheezed.

"Hey! Let me have my moment." Elm said defensively.

"Okay, fine, I'll let you have this one moment." Clancy said with a sigh as he slowly got onto his feet.

"YES!" Elm yelled happily.

"Come on, we need to get moving." Blake said.

"Right, let's get to the scene of the crime." Elm said taking off.

"He knows we're going the other way, right? Ruby asked quietly to Blake.

"Yeah, I don't trust him." Blake said glaring at the man.

"Why's that?" Ruby asked with a curious look on her face.

"If he's our leader, we could be in a lot of trouble. Also there's something else, but I just can't put my finger on what it is." Blake said.

"Well, I guess I can see why you're worried about him being our leader." Ruby said in agreement.

"Don't get me wrong, the first time I realized that you were going to be my team leader, I felt the same way." Blake said bluntly.

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Ruby said in a sulking tone.

"Hey! Elm right? the emo girl here says that the warehouse is the other way!" Yang shouted getting Elm's attention; and a pale one at that.

"I knew that!" Elm said flying past the three girls "Let's get moving."

"Right, I'll take point." Blake said unsheathing Gambol Shroud.

As she walked by Elm, he put his arm out to stop her.

"Are you kidding me, I'm the leader, so I'll take the lead." Elm said staring at her, just above her eyes from Blake's point of view with a curious look in his eye.

"Okay, I guess that works." Blake said feeling a sense of confusion.

"Now then, off we go." And the five of them set out for the south side of Mountain Glenn.

* * *

"Looks like we made it here." Elm said examining the warehouses.

"Well, we would have been here sooner had you not been complaining so much about walking all this way." Weiss scolded.

"That's rich coming from the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." Elm said chuckling.

Weiss gave him a glare and turned her back to him

"Shall we go inside?" Yang asked curiously.

"Yeah, which one should we search first?" Ruby asked looking at the buildings

"We could divide and conquer." Blake said.

"Yeah, that way we can search more places in less time." Yang said in agreement.

"Alright, we'll all take one warehouse and just get the last one together." Elm said happily.

"I'll take the one in the middle on the right." Blake said.

"Okay, I'll take the one opposite you, Ruby, take the one to the left of mine, and Weiss and Yang can take the other two beside Blake's." Elm said with a smirk.

"I'm going in now, see you in a bit." Blake said walking into the warehouse.

She could hear the others in her team doing the same things that she was. She closed the door behind her and took a few steps into the dark room.

"Great, no lighting. _Good thing I'm a faunus with night vision._ " Blake gave a deep sigh and started looking around.

There were nearly no damages to the building. This struck Blake as odd, considering the fact that the surrounding area had been overrun by the creatures of Grimm. She opened some of the storage containers to find them all empty. She couldn't see any signs of anything in the warehouse when suddenly, she felt something hit her on the back of the head. The hit took her by surprise and Blake felt her vision go dark quickly as she hit the floor with a thud.

* * *

Blake felt herself waking up in a room with a singular lightin it. She opened her eyes to find herself tied in a chair near the back of a room. She felt her heart start pounding in her chest and tried calming herself by taking deep breaths.

Blake eventually calmed down and assessed her situation. She was tied up in a chair, in a room with only a singular light, and nobody to be found in sight.

"Perfect, now what do I do?" Blake thought aloud.

"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of begging for mercy." A familiar voice said from the darkness.

She saw a faint hint of red light poke out from the shadows. It was a man, he stepped out of the darkness and Blake's heart skipped a beat when he did. She knew this man, she had worked with him before. This was the man from all of her nightmarish dreams she had when she was at Beacon. She could see him clearly, and it scared her. It scared her because this was the man who was her partner. This man, was Adam Taurus.

"We're going to have a little chat Blake, just the two of us." Adam said as a smirk grew across his face sending a sharp shiver down Blake's back.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Okay, okay, I know, that's a dick move for a cut off._

 _RedMoose:_ I knew Elm was me from an alternate universe but i didn't realize he was that similar…

Me: _Yeah, who knew…_

 _RedMoose:_ Only Nox, me, you, and Clancy.

 _Me: Yeah, good point._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **As the divine profit of Nox, I also knew.**

 _RedMoose:_ Don't you mean prophet?

 _rwbyfan5:_ **No.**

 _*Long moment of silence*_

 _RedMoose:...Ooookaaaay…_

 _Me: We're going to have to get back to you readers in the next chapter… See you there… But, before I do, I should say that there is a poll on my profile. Go to it if you want more humor in the actual story, and not just the A.N's. It's literally a yes/ no/ I don't really care question. Anyway, see you next time._


	21. Things Couldn't Get Any Worse

_**A.N.:**_ _This felt odd to write… I don't know why though…_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **You're hurting my waifu. You were already on my 'to kill' list. Now you're on the tippity top. Nox is going to love your soul as she devours it for eternity**

 _Me: Hey, she's my waifu too-_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **MINE! *HISS***

 _Me: Well, how do we settle this?_

 _RedMoose:_ Fight fight fight, kiss kiss kiss.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Simple: I kill you. Then there's nothing to fight over.**

 _Blake:_ Are you two fighting again?

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BLLLLAAAAAAAKKEE! WHY DID YOU RUN AWAY!? WAS I NOT STRONG ENOUGH?! *begins to sob in a corner***

 _RedMoose:_ Um,... *looks over at rwbyfan5* is this a bad time? I need a pen.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BLLLLAAAAAAKKKKEEEE, WWWWHHHHHHYYYYY?!**

 _Me: We could always share you know_

 _RedMoose:_ Ohh the devils threesome.

 _Blake:_ *looks at all three authors in utter disgust*

RedMoose: *Winks and gives a thumbs up*

 _Me: Let's just go onto the chapter before I die of heartbreak again… *Sobs*_

* * *

 **Things couldn't get any worse**

* * *

"Now then, where shall we start?" Adam said calmly

"Here's an idea, how about the part where you let me go, and we never see each other again?" Blake said sarcastically.

"Ah, and there's the problem, never see each other again." Adam gave her a cold glare sending a shiver up her back.

"Okay." Blake said trying to be calm.

"Speaking of which, why did you leave back there, all those months ago?" Adam glared at her again making another shiver shoot up her back. Blake turned away from his gazed without saying a word.

"Blake." Adam walked up to her and reached out to her face, grabbing her by the chin. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." Adam kept glaring at her causing Blake to panic slightly.

" _Come on, focus Blake, you can't submit to his death glare."_ Blake thought to herself and looked Adam straight in the eyes.

"So that's how it's going to be huh? You never did know when to give up pointless things like this." Adam said slapping Blake across the face.

"That actually almost hurt." Blake taunted putting a smirk on her face.

"You know, you would be hunted down and killed just like all of the other traitors out there." Adam said really close to Blake's face.

"Well, you've obviously tried that, and those three didn't end up so well in the end did they?" Blake said trying to keep calm.

"I personally don't want you to die, so instead, we're going to have a nice little chat, and you're going to tell me why you left that day!" Adam shouted.

" _Great, how do I get out of this one?_ " Blake wondered.

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier_

* * *

"Where is Blake?" Ruby said coming out of her warehouse.

"She's still in there." Weiss said pointing to the warehouse that Blake went into.

"Then let's go give her a hand." Yang said tugging on Weiss's arm.

"Okay, you don't have to drag me there though." Weiss said pulling her arm away.

"Sorry about that, Ice Queen." Yang teased.

"Don't ever call me that again." Weiss said pulling out her rapier and putting the blade up to Yang's neck.

"Okay, okay, I'll put it on ice." Yang said with a smile. Weiss glared at Yang and walked passed her.

"Blake, are you done yet?" Weiss called into the building.

The question was met with an unsettling silence.

"Blake!" Ruby shouted behind Weiss.

"We should check inside." Ruby said.

"Hey, pipsqueak, I cleared out the other warehouse already." Elm said happily.

"Okay, we're going to help out Blake, just wait for us, okay." Ruby replied showing none of the fear in her heart.

"Okay, I'll be taking a nap until you get back." Elm said sitting down beside the building.

"Alright, let's do this." Ruby said to her teammates, who had unsheathed their weapons already.

Ruby did the same and they proceeded into the building.

"Blake, where are you?" Yang asked to the darkness of the building.

"Oh, was she a friend of yours?" Someone said behind them.

They all turned to see a faunus in a white outfit with black pants standing behind them.

"Yeah, where is she?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"And who are you?" Weiss asked taking a step forward raising her rapier.

"Oh, don't worry about that heiress, you're as much a target as she is." The man said ominously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang asked stepping in front of Weiss.

"I mean that she is going to be taken too, one way, or another." The man said.

"I know you. You were the one who robbed that dust shop." Ruby said.

"Well! Look who's being perceptive!" The man said in an exaggerated tone.

"Where is Blake!" Ruby demanded.

"What Red? You want to come too?" The man asked.

"I'll ask again for my sister. Where is our friend!" Yang shouted.

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out." The man said with a large smirk growing across his face.

The three of them gave one look at each other and agreed with a simple nod.

"Great, now all you have to do is get through me, and i'll show you." The man raised a cane like weapon and a sight popped up from the bottom. A shot fired at the three of them and they all dived out of the way.

"Hey, put it this way, you're getting there one way, or another." The man said.

"You son of a bitch." Yang felt her rage start to build and she ran at the man who just stood there.

As she made contact with him, he shattered into glass pieces.

"What just happened?" Weiss asked in shock.

"Oh, hey kiddies, What are you doing just standing around?" He ran at Yang and hit her on the back of the head.

"Yang, Weiss dashed at the man and sliced at his back but was blocked by what looked like an umbrella. Weiss hopped back and readied herself again. There was a girl with pink and brown eyes standing on front her putting on a sinister smile.

"What is going on?" Ruby said running to Weiss's side.

"You do realize you're outnumbered right." The man said walking up to the other girl.

"How? There are three of us and two of you." Weiss observed.

"Well, that's not exactly true." The man pointed behind them to reveal a large group of people running in from the back of the building.

"Hey Weiss, you learned the skill of saying something, then having that thing happen. I'm so glad you could learn something from me." Yang said smiling.

"Shut up Yang, we need to focus." Weiss said sounding scared.

"I'll save you!" Elm shouted from the roof.

"What's he going to do?" Yang asked.

"TIME FOR A GRIMM DROP MOTHER FUCKERS!" Elm shouted pulling a random Beowolf off of the roof with him and landed on the ground, causing a shockwave that devastated everything in the warehouse.

"Jump!" Ruby said leaping into the air with her teammates close behind her.

They avoided the shock wave and landed on their feet.

"Where is that man with the coat?" Ruby asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, but forget about him, we need to find Blake." Yang said placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. Okay then, let's get searching for any clues around the area!" Ruby had a look of fear in her eyes as she said that, but she masked the feelings with the hope that they would find their friend safely. The thought filled Ruby with determination and hope as they searched the warehouse.

"Ruby! Come take a look at this!" Weiss shouted and pointed at the ground outside the warehouse.

"What did you find Weiss?" Ruby asked walking over to her.

"Look at this, there are tracks here. By the look of the long one, it looked as though someone was being dragged across the ground." Weiss said making her guess.

"That's a good enough lead for me. Come on!" Ruby said starting on the tracks.

"Hey! You know, we're supposed to be back by sunset right?" Elm stated looking up at the sky.

"Our friend is missing, we need to find her." Yang said in a serious tone.

"Okay, here's what we do. We go back, get the others, then follow this trail." Elm said earning no response from any of them.

"If you want to go back and get them, do it. We're going to save our teammate." Weiss said with a cold gaze.

"Okay, that works too I guess." Elm sighed.

"Go find them, we'll find Blake." Ruby said.

"Alright, be careful pipsqueak." Elm said starting to run back to their camp.

"Let's go find Blake." Ruby said, focusing on the dusty road.

* * *

"My friends will find me, you know." Blake said, glaring at her old partner.

"And how will they manage to do that, my darling?" Adam mocked.

"We're back!" A man shouted from the other room.

"One moment Blake, I need to deal with something." Adam opened the door and gave a sigh.

"Oh don't give me that look Adam." The man said.

"What did you and Neo find out, Torchwick?" Adam asked before closing the door.

Even with her enhanced hearing, Blake couldn't make out what the two were saying on the other side of the door.

" _This is my chance."_ Blake thought to herself and looked around the room for anything that would help her.

She couldn't really find any loose things that could cut her binding and set her free. Blake started to feel frustrated with the situation.

"Don't forget about my payment for the dust." The Torchwick guy said.

"Sorry about that situation Blake." Adam said walking back into the room.

"You know I left for a reason, right?" Blake said with a glare.

"Yes, I know. But what I want to know is, what was it?" Adam said unsheathing his sword.

"I know you Adam, the real you." Blake said trying making him recall some memories of their past.

"Stow it Blake, I need two things from you. Just cooperate with me!" Adam said slamming his sword into the ground piercing the concrete beside her foot.

"You were the one who taught me to not back down no matter what in these situations." Blake said putting on a smirk.

"So I did." Adam said smiling back at her.

He raised his sword in the air and jabbed the blade into Blake's upper leg. Blake cried out in pain as the blade tore through her muscle. He took the hand off of the blade and left the sword stuck in her leg.

"Now then, why did you leave?" Adam said getting really close to her face.

"I left because of you! All of the White Fang! They all turned from my friends and allies, into mindless monsters!" Blake said holding back the pain.

"Oh, did we now?" Adam said pulling out the blade slowly.

Blake gave another cry of pain as he slowly took the blade out.

"Sir, we have a problem!" A White Fang member said running into the room.

"What kind of problem?" Adam said, on cue, the door behind them exploded and sent the door flying.

Adam took the blade out of her leg in one swift motion, went behind Blake, and put the sword up to her neck.

"If you take another step forward, I'll kill her." Adam said.

"Blake! You're okay!" Yang said.

"Stop! He's not kidding! His blade can cut through someone's aura!" Blake said practically spitting out her words. Her four teammates stopped in the door when realizing what she meant.

"Blake, do you know this faunus?" Weiss said.

"You could say that." Blake replied with a sigh and glared up at him.

"I would assume that you are friends with them Blake?" Adam said pulling her hair.

"They're my teammates." Blake said.

"Ah, did she ever tell you about her past?" Adam said looking to Ruby, Weiss and Yang.

"Why does that matter?" Weiss asked raising Myrtenaster.

"Well Schnee, I would think it would impact you the most." Adam said giving Blake's neck a little room to move.

"Well, for one-" Adam pulled off Blake's bow in one swift gesture and Blake looked away from her friends.

"What?" Weiss said backing away a little bit.

"Wow, you didn't tell them that you were a faunus Blake? What kind of a friend are you?" Adam put a smirk on his face and Blake closed her eyes from her friends gazes.

"Blake, you're a faunus?" Yang said examining her cat ears from a distance.

"Well, that answers my question about her talking about her past I guess." Adam lowered his blade from Blake's neck and walked to her side.

"I'll tell you what Blake, you tell your friends about your past, then the next time we meet, we can talk more about why you left." Adam said putting his hand on Blake's cheek.

"Get away from her, now!" Yang said readying Ember Celica.

"As you wish, but I would be careful around her if I were you." Adam walked at the three huntresses and walked passed them sheathing his sword. The three girls ran up to free Blake from her chair.

"It's a good thing that we found you when we did." Weiss said cutting Blake's hands free.

"Thank you." Blake said standing up after having her legs freed.

"What happened to your leg?" Weiss asked with a very concerned tone.

"Let's just get back before my adrenaline wears off okay." Blake said in pain.

"What happened to you? We were all clearing out our warehouses and then when we all came out, you were gone." Ruby said.

"I don't know, I started looking around then I woke up in here." Blake started.

"It's okay, let's head back to camp though." Weiss said handing Blake Gambol Shroud.

"Right, let's go." Blake said in agreement. Weiss and Yang helped Blake out of the building before Yang stopped them.

"Hey kitty, you almost forgot something." Yang said holding up her bow ribbon.

Blake turned red and tied the bow back on.

"Not a word about this, to anyone." Blake said with a sigh.

"Ah, no promises." Yang said sarcastically.

"I'm serious Yang, I don't want people's opinions changing about me." Blake said trying to suppress the pain in her leg.

"Okay, if it means that much to you, I promise that I won't say anything." Yang replied seriously.

"Let's get back, I need to tell you guys something." Blake said trying to walk toward the camp.

She nearly fell and she was helped back onto her feet by Weiss and Yang.

* * *

"You guys are back! What happened?" Jaune asked running up to the four of them.

"We had a little, incident." Blake replied with a deep sigh clutching her leg.

"Did you find anything out about the dust attacks?" Jaune asked helping Blake.

"No, we didn't." Weiss answered sadly.

"Nobody else did either, we found absolutely nothing." Jaune kicked the ground in slight anger.

"That's not entirely true. When I was captured, I heard my… interrogator, talking with someone about him owing money for dust." Blake said trying to drown the other memories in her head.

"Did you get a look at the guy?" Jaune asked with a gleam of hope in his eye.

"I did manage to get a quick look, he had a white coat and black pants. He also had orange hair. I also happened to catch what might have been his name. I heard the name Torchwick come up as the interrogator came back into the room." Blake said giving a sigh.

"Another lead, we should get back to Vale and see if we can dig anything else up." Ruby suggested happily.

"I agree, let's tell the others." Blake said with a smile. They helped Blake into their camp where everyone was gathered around a campfire. They sat Blake down by a wall to help support her.

"Oh thank god, you guys are back." Steel said with a sigh of relief.

"We made it back, and we might have some information on the attacks. Although, I could use a hand here." Blake pointed at her leg and Steel went wide eyed. He closed his eyes and activated his semblance. He put his hand on Blake's leg causing her to jump at the contact.

"Really? do tell." Tanya smiled.

"I will, but first I need you all to promise something." Blake said feeling Steel's semblance flow through her.

Everyone took a look at one another and gave a nod.

"Alright, promise me that you won't bring this fact up again." Blake had a very serious look on her face.

"Okay, promise." Pyrrha smiled followed by nods from everyone else.

"Alright, I'm holding all of you to your word. First of all, the first thing you need to know, is the group behind these attacks is a faunus revolutionary group known as the White Fang. The reason I know about this is because of my old partner, Adam. I'm guessing that he made a deal with a certain Torchwick." Blake took a deep breath.

She could feel the wound on her leg start to close up and the relief of pain felt like a heaven.

"Okay, you know this how?" Rusty asked curiously.

"Because I used to be one of them." Blake said losing most of her confidence.

This surprised almost everyone in the room causing them to become wide eyed.

"But the White Fang is a faunus group, you said it yourself." Ryder pointed out.

"I know, the only way I could be a part of them would be if I was a faunus right? Well guess what." Blake said pulling the string of her bow.

She pulled the ribbon of to reveal her tiny black cat ears on top of her head.

"You're…... a cat?" Xplit went wide eyed.

"Part cat I guess." Blake replied.

"Hold on one second." Xplit ran into the other room to go get something.

"Okay, should we proceed or do you want to wait for her to come back?" Blake asked tilting her head.

"I'd say that you should proceed, if she's doing what I think she's doing, we might not finish here for a while." Elm said.

"Umm, okay." Blake nodded in confusion of his words.

"Please, continue Blake." Clancy said trying to encourage her.

"Well, when I was a part of the White Fang, we needed to get dust, a lot of it for something. Before I left, I heard talk about us not having to risk so much on getting the dust anymore. My guess is that the Torchwick man talking to Adam, was the reason for that. I think we know who did this, but now the question is, why?" Blake said with a sigh.

"So, we have our lead then?" Ruby asked coyly.

"I think so, but what's bugging me is the why?" Blake sounded frustrated at the thought of it.

"We'll find that out Blake, I can promise you that. Also, your leg looks good to go, feel good?" Steel said with confidence.

Blake glanced up at Steel and smile back at him.

"Okay lovebirds, let's get back to Vale with this intel then!" Tanya said bursting in between the two.

"Lovebirds? Really?" Blake said bluntly and raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, forget about it." Tanya said smiling coyly at the two of the.

"Right." Blake glared at her and Xplit walked back into the room.

"Okay, I really, really, really, _really,_ _ **really,**_ _ **really**_ like cats, so I was wondering if I could have a picture with you?" Xplit asked excitedly.

"I said that we wouldn't talk about this, at all." Blake glared at her.

"Oh come on! Please!" Xplit begged on her knees.

"You know, Xplit almost never backs down if she has her mind set on something." Elm said with a wide smirk on his face.

"I don't care Mr. Zaffre, I said no." Blake turned her back on Xplit who gave a sigh.

"We need to start heading back to Vale." Mag said calmly.

"I agree, we need to get most of this info back to Professor Goodwitch as soon as possible." Josh said picking up his shields.

"Right, let's get our gear ready and we'll move out." Clancy said.

"Tomorrow, right?" Elm asked with some confusion.

"We need to get this info back quick." Mag said.

"Fine, I'm blaming all of you if I die of exhaustion though." Elm went into the other room to grab his staff.

Thirty minutes later, all of their gear had been packed and the group started moving back to the kingdom. They left the edge of Mountain Glenn and moved into the forest. The forest had a haunting feel to it as they walked through it. Everyone was relieved when they reached the edge of the forest and walked into the plains of Vale that they had gotten used to.

They kept walking until they got up onto a hill and saw the kingdom of Vale from the other side. They were shocked to see a herd of Grimm running toward the kingdom at a high speed. There were possibly thousands of them running at the kingdom.

"What is going on?" Elm asked hiking up to the top of the hill.

"This is not good." Weiss said in disbelief.

"We need to get to Vale, now! Ren said taking off down the hill.

"Yeah, come on guys!" Jaune said running after him. Everyone else took a look at each other and started running too.

"Teal, how many do you see!?" Steel shouted, Teal stopped and let his semblance work for a few seconds.

He shot his eyes open and started running again.

"There are way too many to count Steel!" Teal replied.

"Great! The more Grimm, the more fun there is to have!" Elm said leaping over a hill and slamming his staff into the ground.

"Okay, let's do this." Mag teleported into the horde and readied the whip blade. She stood there and cut down all the Grimm that ran at her as the others started cutting down the others on the outside of the horde.

"The Grimm are just running past her?" Ryder said pushing toward her cutting up Grimm left and right with her machetes.

"They're not interested in fighting? There must be a large concentration of negative energy some-" Clancy started but was cut off by Blake.

"The medical camp would be a prime target for fear, anger and sadness." Blake said cutting down another Beowolf. She jumped out of the raging stampede and recalled everyone back to her.

"We need to get to the medic encampment by the downed coliseum, Now!" Blake shouted.

"That's where they are all going?" Rusty said in confusion.

"Think about it, that's not only where a ton of people are, it's also where the most pain and suffering is going on. The worst part is, they don't even know it's coming." Steel said in half shock.

"Steel is right, Grimm are attracted to negativity right?" Rusty asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, they are, with the coliseum incident, the negative emotions would be at an all time high wouldn't they.." Clancy said with a sigh

"We need to get back to Vale, fast!" Yang said firing a shot from Ember Celica into the Grimm pack. It nailed an Ursa square in the face, killing it instantly.

"Let's get a move on so nobody else gets hurt." Ruby said pulling on Yang's arm.

"Yeah, okay." Yang sighed.

"We should split up." Steel suggested.

"You're right, we're more likely to be spotted by the Grimm if we stay together, I say that we should split into three teams." Blake said in agreement

"Okay, team ABEX can go in alone." Elm said holding his staff triumphantly.

"That was my plan." Blake agreed causing Elm to be slightly confused.

"Okay, who should go with who?" Rusty asked.

"I think it would be wise for the two quieter teams to move together." Ren said making his opinion known

"And what two teams are those?" Josh asked.

"I believe that team JSTR should come with our team." Ren said calmly

"I agree, just make sure that Nora doesn't make too much noise." Yang smiled at the redhead who just stood beside Ren, smiling at the boy.

"Alright, that means that team RWBY and STRM will go as the third team." Ruby said.

"Then let's get to the crash site." Teal agreed.

* * *

The group of eight eventually got into the Kingdom of Vale. They moved carefully around the city as to not draw too much attention to themselves. They found a group of Grimm, mostly consisting of Beowolves standing around near a park. The group saw two bodies lying on the ground in the middle of the Grimm pack.

"Blake, Mag, can you get in there and kill those things quietly?" Ruby asked trying to be calm.

"I think so, I have a plan." Mag said.

"Alright, let's go then." Blake replied with a smile.

The two ran around the group without being spotted and waited for the Grimm to turn their backs.

"I'm going to teleport us into the center of that group, then we take them down fast." Mag said, taking Trick Fouet off of her back.

"Alright, sounds good." Blake said doing the same with Gambol Shroud.

"Three, two, one, go." Mag grabbed Blake's hand and they appeared in the middle of the now confused Grimm.

They hacked and slashed at the confused Grimm quickly killing them and quietly for the most part. They sheathed their weapons and walked carefully back to the group.

"Well, you two are the equivalent of assassins." Rusty said clearly impressed.

"Assassins, I thought I was a huntress?" Mag fake pouted catching Rusty off guard.

"Well, I mean, you fight so accurately, and with such insane amounts of speed." Rusty gave up and sighed.

"I'm joking with you Rusty." Mag said bluntly.

"Oh! Right! Of course." Rusty felt the sad awkwardness crawl up his back.

He looked down to the floor from the feeling.

"Come on guys, we need to keep moving." Steel said rolling his eyes.

"Or you two can stay here and, you know, chat, or whatever." Yang said to Mag and Rusty, holding back a laugh.

"Come on, let's get back to Goodwitch before something else does." Mag said walking past Rusty.

"Damn Mag, that's cold, especially for you." Yang teased.

"Look, I don't know what you think is going on, but knowing you, I'm going to tell you that my only intention, is to save the people at the camp. So please smarten up and focus on this task!" Mag shouted surprising everyone; even herself.

"Well, at least you're not afraid of standing up for yourself." Yang smiled.

"Come on already, let's go." Mag said with a slightly annoyed tone.

* * *

The eight of them snuck through the nearly destroyed kingdom fairly well for the amount of them in the group. They moved street to street trying to silently take out as many Grimm as they could without being spotted. THey could see the crash site in the distance being held off by anyone who could really stand. They raced to the hunters fending off the Grimm to give them a hand.

"Where did you guys go!?" Velvet asked kicking a Beowolf into an Ursa, knocking them both over.

"We had an assignment to do for Goodwitch." Ruby replied.

"Forget about it. Help us clear out these Grimm!" Coco yelled while simultaneously mowing down Grimm with her mini-gun.

"Ruby, take up sniper support from the building back there!" Steel said pointing to a mostly intact building with three floors to it.

"Alright, you guys do your best to hold them back until I'm up there." Ruby put Crescent rose into its compact sniper form and used her semblance to get to the building. She unsheathed the scythe and mounted the sniper with the blade and picked a target.

" _There is an Ursa getting too close Fox,"_ Bang! " _not anymore I guess"_ Ruby smiled at her work and picked another target, taking it down in one shot each time.

"Ruby's in position, half of us in front, half, preferably with ranged weapons in the back!" Steel ordered. Yang immediately ran to the front lines, volleying shotgun shells into the incoming horde. This allowed for Fox, Yatsuhashi, Blake, Mag, and Teal to move up as well.

"Hold them back!" Steel said switching Axe Gevar into its assault rifle form.

The incoming Grimm felt endless, but as rounds were fired, and blades met Grimm flesh, the Grimm attack seemed to slow down bit by bit.

"We almost have them beat!" Yang shouted happily pounding a Creep into the ground.

"Push forward!" Steel shouted with confidence.

"Wait." Teal stopped and activated his semblance.

He searched the surrounding area for any other strong Grimm. He didn't want anyone falling into a trap.

"See anything?" Steel asked.

"Aside from the fifty Grimm in front of us, no, but stay cautious." Teal replied switching Piana Morska into its sword form.

"Alright, who's next!" Yang shouted punching an Ursa major to the ground.

She jumped on top of the half alive beats and put a shell into its skull. Mag jumped to the side of Yang to cut a Beowolf in half that was lunging at the blonde.

"Thanks." Yang smiled.

"Yeah, don't mention it." Mag smiled back.

The feeling was short lived as another Beowolf tried flanking Mag. Yang pushed Mag out of the way and fired a shell into its chest.

"Now we're even." Yang said and ran forward into a group of Grimm. It appeared to be the last of them coming from this side. Yang lept into the air and launched herself at the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked the Grimm off their feet.

Blake, Velvet, and Mag jumped in to help Yang as the others provided fire support. The small group of remaining Beowolves was quickly killed and it appeared that they won their victory.

"Thanks for the help you guys." Coco said flipping her hair to the side.

"No problem, do you know where Goodwitch is?" Blake asked noticing their mission again.

"She's in the main tent, last I saw her." Velvet replied shyly.

"Mag, Steel, you come with me to deliver this intel." Blake said.

"I guess the rest of us will remain here." Weiss said.

"Can you hold down this side?" Blake said.

As she did, Coco pulled out her minigun and gave a smirk.

"Put it this way, I have over two thousand normal dust rounds left for this thing, not including the elemental rounds." Coco smiled.

"In other words, I think that we'll be fine." Rusty added.

"Alright, we'll be back." Blake said running toward the main tent of the camp with Mag and Steel on either sides of her.

The medical area around was about two blocks on coming from a single direction. The three of them made it into the main area and found the tent. They walked in and Goodwitch was standing there looking shocked from what was happening.

"Professor!" Blake stopped briefly to catch her breath.

"You're back, probably at the best possible time at that." Goodwitch said giving a sigh of relief.

"Yes, we have some intel on the attacks as well." Steel said calmly.

"Excellent, I could use some good news today." Goodwitch leaned forward to listen in on what they had to say.

"Based on various amounts of intel gathered, some at own personal risk, we believe that the faunus group known as the White Fang are behind these attacks." Mag said trying to sound calm.

"Alright, what evidence do you have to back up this acquisition?" Goodwitch asked.

"Well, during our search, I was captured by a faunus belonging to the White Fang. He started questioning me until a man knocked on the door. Before my interrogator came back into the room, I overheard something about a large amount of dust needing payment." Blake gave a sigh.

"And did you catch the man's name by any chance?" Goodwitch asked.

"The interrogator's name was named Adam, and the other guy was named Torchwick, I believe that was his last name though." Blake got a chill up her back from thinking about Adam again.

She didn't know why he seemed like such a nightmare to her now.

"I see, those names don't exactly ring any bells at the moment." Goodwitch said with a sigh.

"At least we can start a search up now, right?" Mag asked hopefully.

"Sadly, because of the amount of injured people still around the grounds, we must protect them at all cost. Sending a group as large as yours was a bad call on my part, considering that just before you came in here, I received a report saying that two huntsman had passed away due to Grimm attacks." Goodwitch sat down and sighed deeply.

"Who were the two that died?" Steel asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Both of them were first years from the same team. Due to privacy reasons, I'm not at liberty to discuss that topic." Goodwitch put a hand through her hair and readjusted her glasses.

"We'll go help out around the grounds then." Blake said walking out of the tent.

"Thank you for your time professor." Mag said following Steel out of the tent.

"So, now what do we do?" Blake asked with a sigh.

"I should go help anybody who needs it, I'll see you guys later." Steel said running to one of the medical tents set up close by.

"Why do you think this all happened when it did?" Mag asked having a tear come from her eye.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked in confusion of the question.

"And that name, Adam, I know I've heard it somewhere before." Mag kicked some rubble from the ground as another tear fell from her eye.

"Look, I don't know what's going on in your head, so please tell me." Blake put a hand on Mag's shoulder comforting the deer faunus.

"Why did the coliseum crash from the sky? Why did all of our communications with the other kingdoms get cut off? Why are there Grimm clawing at the city gates and at people around Vale?" Mag felt the tears flow down her eyes, but she didn't exactly know why.

"I don't know why any of this happened, but it did, and the only thing that we can do, is to offer help to anyone who needs it." Blake said trying stay calm and collective about the situation.

It had been hard on her too, hell, on everyone around Remanent. It looked like Mag was on the point of breaking down fully.

"Things could always be worse, right?" Mag looked back at her hopefully.

"Yeah, things could always be worse." Blake agreed.

"I'm sorry for being like this, stuff just builds up sometimes." Mag looked down at the ground and wiped her tears away.

"Don't worry, things will get better eventually. At some point down the road a ways." Blake smiled and patted Mag on the back. " _Some people are like this, but it really helps when you have a shoulder to cry on_."

"We should get back to the rest of them before they start to worry." Mag sighed.

"Okay." Blake smiled and the two went on their way.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _so, this is getting interesting, isn't it?_

 _RedMoose:_ GRIMM DROP MOTHERFUCKERS!

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***writing out a detailed plan on how to kill Spartan25798 as slowly as possible anyway***

 _RedMoose: *Giving him ideas.*_

 _Me: Can someone check on rwbyfan5? He's scaring me now. He's been like this since the other authors notes at the top of the chapter…_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Muttering quietly in latin***

 _Mag:_ And, what brought this up?

 _Blake:_ I think they're fighting over me…

 _Mag:_ I wish I were that lucky.

 _Rusty:_ I'll give you all the attention you want Magenta!

 _RedMoose:_ Hold up Rusty, I think you may have a little competition. *looks at spartan25798*

 _Me:_ Rusty, not now, the situation is delicate to say the least. I think that physically tampering with it, could trigger an explosion.

 _RedMoose: *talking with Elm about femurs being broken…* A_ lso am I the only one getting a "notice me senpai" vibe from Adam?

 _Me: on that note, I will bid you readers, goodbye. At least until the next chapter. I need to have a little chat with the RedMoose over there… And stay away from rwbyfan5… I think he wants to kill me._


	22. Things Got Worse

_**A.N.:**_ _BACON, BACON EVERYWHERE!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BACON FOR THE BACON GODDESS!**

 _RedMoose:_ Oh kay… I really don't care for bacon.

 _Blake_ : I do like fish a bit better, but bacon is alright.

 _RedMoose:_ How about Moose jerky?

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BACON. FOR. THE. BACON. GODDESS!**

 _Me: Wait, wait, wait… Bacon stuffed fish!_

 _Blake:_ That sounds quite nice actually

 _RedMoose:_ That sounds unappetizing. So while the readers read the story, we will contemplate the _**HORRIBLE**_ food choices we have suggested.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!**

 _RedMoose:_ You're both just trying to get into Blake's pants.

 _Blake:_ You know, I have a katana, right RedMoose? I'd stop making fun of them, especially because of the fish part, or we're going to have a little chat.

RedMoose:I have an Elm.

Elm: Hello! *Elm shouted from the other room*

Blake: And I have a Yang, and a Weiss, and a Ruby

RedMoose: I also have a Team MHGY.

Elm: You know I could probably destroy the whole block with one punch.

Me: Well, if we're playing like this, we have all of team RWBY, JNPR would join us, STRM, EMBR and AMGD. I think we outnumber you.

RedMoose: So what have we started? I was only stating the obvious since Blake you are Spartan25798's waifu.

Blake: YOU INSULTED FISH, THAT IS SOMETHING I WILL NOT STAND FOR.

RedMoose: Blake are you ok, you don't seem like yourself, almost like someone is talking for you...

Me: Enjoy this chapter while we "try" to sort all of this out. Now excuse me while I go kill RedMoose

* * *

 **Things got worse**

* * *

"You guys are back, did you tell Goodwitch?" Yang asked running up to the two of them.

"Yeah, I don't really know what to do now though." Blake said.

"So we can't do anything?" Yang asked curiously.

"Not until Goodwitch says otherwise." Mag answered.

"Hey, any progress reports at the other areas of the perimeter?" Coco asked from afar

" _You could say that._ Nothing good!" Blake said in reply.

"Ah, we all have our own problems, we need to focus on the task at hand." Mag shrugged.

"Hey Mag, Blake, where is Steel?" Rusty asked walking up to them.

"He stayed behind to help out the wounded in the middle of the camp." Mag sighed.

"Well, that's typical of him, always there to give a hand to those in need." Rusty smiled looking back at the camp. He really did care for people a lot, despite what people thought of him being a faunus.

"I guess, what needs doing around here though?" Mag asked.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Coco. She says that the other checkpoint could use more backup, but this is also the closest one to the entrance of the city so, your guess is as good as mine." Rusty rolled his eyes and checked the area behind him.

"Hey Rusty, Teal wants you to do something, go see what he wants!" Yatsuhashi said from the front lines.

"Okay! I'll see you guys later I guess." Rusty winked at Mag and left to go find Teal.

"He likes you, you know that, right?" Blake asked.

"I know he does, It's kind of annoying in a way." Mag replied.

"And what other way is it? Do you like him?" Blake asked curiously.

"Rusty and I are teammates Blake, there isn't any chemistry between us other than that." Mag crossed her arms and glared at her friend. Blake just stood there smiling and Mag rolled her eyes.

"Is there anyone who you _do_ like?" Blake asked.

"I don't know, why are you so interested?" Mag asked raising her voice a little.

"Just wondering, and trying to lighten the dark mood a bit, but what good would that do?" Blake gave a shrug.

"I guess you're right, but what do we do?" Mag gave a sigh. It was becoming morning now, and the sun was just starting to scrape the horizon. Mag looked at the beautiful sight before her. She liked sunrises and sunsets, but this one felt different.

"Starting a new day like this feels weird, doesn't it?" Mag smiled at the sunrise

"Yeah, considering how much has happened in the past few days." Blake gave out a sigh and smiled. There were suddenly loud bangs that filled the air. After about a minute, a super loud crack and a light flashed up from the air, illuminating the sky.

"One of the groups was pushed back, move now!" Coco grabbed her handbag and ran for the next block as fast as she could.

"What's going on?" Mag asked in confusion.

"One of the teams got pushed back to far somehow, everyone is moving back to support incase any try to Flank them." Velvet stopped, and then ran after her team leader.

"Turtle strategy eh? Not bad." Blake turned and ran after the small group in front of them with Mag close behind.

"Where are they coming from?" Coco shouted to a smaller huntsman as they ran from behind.

"Far end from us, the others say that they can handle it though." He gazed at the camp with the fighting coming from the other side of it.

"I don't hear any Grimm." Mag said with curiosity.

"We shouldn't worry, we have three teams up front, all we have to deal with is their rear." The boy said trying to sound like he was calm.

"Alright, let's wait here so they don't get flanked." Teal said.

"Hey Ruby, can you find them in your sight?" Mag asked as Ruby unsheathed Crescent Rose.

"Alright, let's see." Ruby scoped in to see the field but her view was blocked by a building to her left.

Ruby adjusted herself to try and see the action.

"Well?" Rusty tried impatiently.

"I can't see jack diddly squat." Ruby put her scythe away.

Suddenly, the gunshots stopped, and all was quiet again.

"Are we good to go back or?" Yang started. Suddenly, a large burst of flame sprayed up from one of the tents.

"Go make sure that doesn't happen anywhere else, CFVY, go to those flames, and get those people out of there!" Coco started running toward the burning tent.

"Blake, Mag, go make sure Goodwitch is alright." Ruby said. "The rest of us, go get the others out of the medical tent." The other group split from Mag and Blake and the two of them dashed for the main tent in the center of the camp.

They opened the tent to find Goodwitch breathing heavily.

"Professor, one of the tents is on fire!" Mag shouted getting her attention.

"R-" Goodwitch started.

"Professor?" Blake stepped forward.

"Are you alright?" Mag stayed on high alert and scanned the room.

"No, I've failed. They got through." Goodwitch was wide eyed in shock.

"We can't stop to think about this right now, a tent is on fire!" Blake shouted.

"You know, you should leave an old lady to her own misery." A voice said from behind them. They turned to see a group of Faunus wearing White Fang uniforms in the doorway.

"Adam, what are you doing here?" Blake reached for Gambol Shroud and the other faunus took out their weapons as well.

"Blake?" Mag said with confusion.

"Adam?" Blake took out her katana and raised it in a defensive form.

"You know, I said we would talk the next time we met." Adam smirked unsheathing his sword.

"Mag, get Goodwitch out of here." Blake said calmly.

"Okay, Professor." Mag walked back, not taking her eyes off of the White Fang members and grabbed Goodwitch's arm.

Within a second, both of them disappeared outside of the tent somewhere.

"Well, there goes our target. Some of you, go and find her." Adam said dismissing some of his soldiers. They ran out of the tent in order to pursue Mag and Goodwitch.

"Now then, as much as I don't want to, I have to kill you." Adam looked down and glared at Blake setting her uneasy. Blake stepped back out of fear but kept her composure.

"You know, I don't have to kill you if you're one of us." Adam smiled.

"I don't care! You tried to kill innocent people, and I will never forgive you for that." Blake shot back at him still careful of her surroundings.

"That saddens me, so as a result, I will make it as painful as possible." Adam unsheathed his sword fully and pointed the blade at her.

Mag appeared beside Blake in a flash and pulled out Trick Fouet.

"Where were we again?" Mag smiled.

She noticed that Adam was pointing his blade directly at Blake's shoulder and moved in front of Blake to defend her.

"Mag, you should go." Blake said.

"No, you're my friend Blake, and I won't let anyone hurt my friends." Mag focused her attention Back on Adam who was lowering his sword.

"Mag right?" Adam gave a smirk

"Yeah, I won't let you near my friend." Mag readied her own katana and prepared for a fight.

"Your full name wouldn't be Magenta, would it?" Adam smiled putting Mag off guard.

"How did you know that?" Mag backed up a bit.

"That's a long story." Adam said wiping the smile off of his face.

Suddenly, Steel cut through the back of the tent with his axe and ran in behind the two girls.

"Ah, another faunus, welcome to the party." Adam almost laughed.

"Hey, don't hurt my friends." Steel smirked, he pulled out an assault rifle clip and popped the one in Axe Gevar out.

He placed the new clip in and pointed the barrel at Adam. The White Fang members behind Adam started moving forward, but Adam stopped them.

"You know what's going to happen, don't you." Adam said.

"I don't care really." Steel aimed down the sights and had the barrel directly at his head.

"Okay, stun them already." Adam said waving his hand.

Two shots rang from the air and both Mag and Blake fell to the ground from an electric shock. Steel walked passed them and flipped his battleaxe around.

"Good job, after spending so much time with them, I didn't know if you had the guts anymore." Adam walked up to Steel and patted him on the shoulder.

"Steel?" Blake muttered.

She couldn't move a muscle after the shock round that hit her in the back.

"Sorry Blake, it was fun while it lasted though." Steel smiled down at the two of them

"Y-you! You!" Mag tried but was in the same situation as Blake; being unable to move.

"It wasn't easy at some points, keeping this charade up." Steel knelt down by Blake's face and looked her directly in the eye.

"W-why?" Blake muttered.

"You see, when you left, me and my friends were sent to kill you. That slash to the arm really fucking hurt by the way." Steel glared at her.

"Y-you were the wolf faunus w-who attacked me on the day I went t-to Be-beacon?" Blake felt her heart start racing even more. She glanced over and saw Mag lying there, just as motionless as she was.

"When I used my semblance to heal us, I was assigned to go to Beacon to spy on you." Steel stood up, and Blake could feel his cold gaze from above her.

"Steel, she isn't yours to kill." Adam said pulling him back and away from her.

"What about her?" Steel said pointing to Mag who started shaking from fear.

"I think that we need somebody alive to tell the story." Adam said with a smirk.

"H-hey, don't hurt anyone." Mag stuttered.

"Don't worry Mag, we won't hurt you. Blake on the other hand, needs to be killed for her treachery." Steel said surprisingly calm.

"But why? She left because you broke the promise you made to her." Mag said in the defence of Blake. She tried to move her head to look at her friend, but the shock prior still didn't allow her to move.

"Mag, I'm sorry about all of this." Blake said calmly.

"Sorry for what?" Mag questioned.

"I came to Beacon thinking it would be a safe haven from them. I didn't want to make friends in case something like this happened. I didn't want people to care about me if I died the next day. So I'm sorry for doing this to you." Blake felt a tear run down her cheek.

"Don't talk like that, Blake! We can make it out of this!" Mag felt tears running down her own face, she couldn't stand the thought of her friend dying.

"I have only one request." Blake said.

"And what might that be?" Steel asked.

"That if I'm killed, make it be in front of my past brothers and sisters." Blake said with a sigh.

"Brave as always, hoping to change the world for the better?" Adam asked with a smirk.

"No, I don't want any more of them succumbing to their fate like I will." Blake gave another deep sigh.

"Well, what should we do sir?" Steel asked.

"I'd say we should give Blake her last wish." Adam said with a sigh.

"Alright, grab her then and let's get the hell out of here." Steel started moving toward the opening of the tent.

"Blake, why must you do this to me?" Adam said picking her up.

He threw her limp body over his shoulder and continued to follow Steel as an escort.

"Mag, Blake, are you guys okay?" Ruby's voice called out.

She, along with Weiss and Yang, entered the tent to find Mag lying on the ground.

"Mag!" Ruby rushed to her side.

"Forget about me! They took her, they took Blake." Mag said.

"Which way did they go?" Weiss asked.

"You just missed them, they went where you came in." Mag said weakly.

"Guys, what's going on?" Rusty asked as he walked in with Teal.

"Teal, use your semblance and try to find a group of people walking away from the camp." Ruby said wide eyed.

"Okay." Teal closed his eyes and his aura around his body started to glow.

He remained still for a few seconds before his eyes snapped open.

"Follow me." Teal turned toward the tent opening and ran after Blake's captures.

Everyone else followed except for Rusty who insisted on staying with Mag to make sure she was alright.

"Come on, they're this way." Teal said rounding the corner.

There was an bullhead in the middle of a four way stop and a small group was talking. Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Teal all rushed toward the group, spotting Blake already inside.

"Blake!" Ruby shouted getting the enemy's attention.

They came to the edge and everyone had drawn their weapons. Steel walked out from the bullhead and was shocked to find the group of four there.

"Steel? What are you doing?" Teal asked.

"And I hoped it wouldn't come to this." Steel said unraveling Axe Gevar.

"Why are you helping them? They are kidnapping Blake." Ruby said stepping forward.

"Oh hey Red. Why are you up at this hour? You didn't pull an all nighter did you? That's way past your bedtime." The orange haired man said.

"And you are?" Weiss asked.

"Roman Torchwick, at their service." He said pointing to the White Fang.

"Get out of here kids, this doesn't involve you." Adam said pulling out his sword.

"Actually, it involves us a lot more than you might realize." Teal said as Piana Morska slid open.

"You know Teal, I've always hated how good you were with people." Steel said pointing his rifle end at Teal's head.

"Go home kiddies, you won't win this fight." Roman smiled.

"It's three against four. I think that we have the advantage." Yang said cocking the shotgun shells in Ember Celica into place.

"Oh, well then in that case. Neo, could you give us a hand out here?" Roman said.

A small girl with pink and brown hair stepped out of the bullhead and twirled an umbrella around with a smirk on her face.

"Wow, picking on children, how low can you get?" Elm said walking up behind the team.

All of the White Fang pawns raised their weapons as the Huntsman strolled in.

"Can you believe this Xplit? Picking on the poor innocent youth." Nile said walking up as well with Xplit close behind.

"A real fight, this will be quite fun." Steel said.

"You know, all and all, It's a beautiful day outside." Elm smiled. He pulled out a sword that appeared to have a split down the middle. "You know, the bird are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this, it's easy to see how people can become so distracted." Elm smiled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Steel said.

"You failed to notice that your captured faunus girl is out of your custody." Nile smirked.

The three of them turned around to see that the seat Blake was sitting in was in fact vacant.

"Thanks Clancy." Xplit said.

There was a puff of smoke around Xplit and she changed into Xplat.

"Now then, who's ass needs kicking?" She said pulling out Xplish and Xplash.

There were suddenly growls that started to fill the air and what felt like a tiny earthquake started.

"We should get out of here sir." One of the pawns said to Adam.

"Not until we find Blake." Adam said.

"Look, I don't care who you are, or what you want, but leave my teammates, my best friend, out of it." Ruby glared at the other group.

"Then it is my responsibility to destroy everything she loves. So I shall start with you." Adam raised his sword.

Ruby stepped back from the faunus as he put a wide smirk across his face.

"Oh no, you are not hurting my sister." Yang stepped in front of Ruby, blocking his path.

"Nobody is hurting anybody, now let's all go about our day and go our separate ways." Elm said lazily.

"Then the huntsman will die first." Adam ran at Elm with his blade and slashed at his neck.

"Bad idea." Elm put his hand up to block the attack. As soon as Adam's blade made contact with Elm's hand, the blade was sent flying.

"What?!" Adam shouted.

"You son of a bitch, you cut my hand." Elm held up his hand to reveal a cut on his hand the size of a penny.

"You win this time, then." Adam walked over and retrieved his blade.

He walked back with the blade sheathed and got into the bullhead.

"This isn't over, Steel." Teal said.

"Good, I hope that next time, we actually get to fight." Steel smirked.

The bullheads engines roared as the ship took off.

"Mag!" Teal's head shot up and he along with the others raced back into the tent.

"Is she alright?" Ruby asked kneeling down beside her.

"Once this shock wears off Rusty, you're in trouble." Mag half mumbled.

"What did I do?" Rusty asked is surprise.

"This is the last time you'll ever get to hold me like this." Mag groaned.

Rusty had her lying down on his upper leg with his hand in her hair gently running it through.

"Yeah, well, might as well make the most of it." Rusty chuckled.

"It is kind of cute actually." Ruby giggled.

"Shut up, both of you." Mag rolled her eyes, she felt her hands twitch and she could move her hands freely again.

Soon after that, her arms, legs and eventually could move fine again.

"Can you get up?" Yang asked offering her a hand up.

"Steel and the others escaped." Weiss said as Yang helped Mag to her feet.

"Damn." Mag gave a deep sigh.

"Why did he do this to us?" Rusty asked the group.

"Because he was told to do so." Blake said as she limped in.

"But he didn't have too." Rusty punched the table putting a crack right down the middle.

"I've know Steel as long as all of you have, but I think that if he didn't, someone close to him would've gotten hurt." Blake said

"Its his sister, I bet twenty len it's his sister". Elm said from the other room waving a len card around.

"You never know, but I don't think that his actions were out of his own heart." Blake gave a sigh and felt a small amount of pity for the boy.

"We can't think about him right now." Mag said.

"Magenta's right, despite what he did, we need to make sure everyone's okay." Teal nodded toward Mag causing a smile to make its way onto her face.

"This feels weird, you know. Team STRM is basically gone." Rusty said with a sigh.

"No, I think that as long as we're here, team STRM will still stand." Mag closed her eyes and gave a sigh alongside Rusty.

"Hey I know this is _**really**_ bad time but all of a sudden I thought of another name for your team, STERNUM, my favorite bone to break" Elm said glancing at Rusty.

"Yeah, not the time Elm." Clancy glared. He pulled Elm outside for the two teams to have their little chat

"Besides, there are people in Vale who still need help." Nile pointed out.

"We should probably get to work then." Teal sighed.

"No, I think you guys should spend the day off." Ruby said.

"Yeah, you've all been through enough for one day." Weiss added.

"I guess you guys are right." Rusty said in agreement. He looked back at his teammates who both looked like they were on the brink of crying; Mag especially.

"I'll just head back to Beacon then." Mag said quietly.

"Okay, do you need any help getting there?" Rusty asked offering his hand.

"I think I'll be okay, just stay close so I don't eat the ground if something does happen." Mag rolled her eyes and gave a small smile.

"Blake should head back to, I think that she could use a break as well." Teal said calmly.

"I'll be fine, they could use my help." Blake objected.

"I agree with Teal on this, you were kind of shot in the back." Yang cringed.

"I know, but I'm fi-" Blake started to say.

"I also agree, Blake should get some rest." Weiss interrupted.

"Yeah, she could." Ruby said with a cute smile.

"Think of it as a quick _catnap_." Yang smiled holding back a laugh hearing Elm chuckle from outside the tent. Blake glared at Yang and she lost it.

"Fine, but when I'm rested, I'm coming back out to help." Blake gave a deep sigh and followed team STRM out.

"Do you need me to help you like Rusty is with Mag?" Teal asked calmly.

"I've been hit by worse, so I'll be fine." Blake nodded.

"Okay, when you're rested up a bit, drop by our dorm. It would be efficent to all be in the same boat for this." Teal said.

"Alright, I guess that can work." Blake nodded.

"Alright, we'll be on guard duty until something comes up then." Ruby stated.

"Come on Blake, we're going back now." Teal said.

"Okay, thanks for this by the way." Blake smiled.

"Don't mention it, enjoy your little cat nap." Yang smiled back, but was met by a very cold glare coming from both Blake and Teal.

"Sheesh, tough crowd." Yang tensed up

"See you guys later." Blake waved to her teammates and they went their separate ways.

"So, how are you taking the whole Steel thing?" Blake asked striking up conversation as they walked.

"To be honest, I don't really know. I mean, it's really shocking and the betrayal hurts and all. Aside from that though, I don't know what else there is to tell." Teal gave a sigh and looked at his other teammates. Rusty was making sure that Mag was completely alright and stayed close to her.

"How do you think they're taking it?" Blake asked with a sigh.

"I think that Mag is taking it the hardest to be honest with you." Teal replied.

"Why is that?" Blake asked with a look of curiosity.

"Steel was our leader, and Mag would almost always look to him for guidance and that leadership. Without that, I don't really know what will happen." Teak replied.

'I'm sorry for doing this to you." Blake sighed.

"What do you mean?" Teal stopped.

"For making you talk about him, I know this is hard on all of you, trust me, I know the feeling. I just feel bad about making you talk about this." Blake admitted.

"Don't feel bad Blake, it actually helps talking about this to be honest." Teal smiled.

"It does?" Blake said surprised.

"Well, assuming you've had to deal with this kind of thing before, how did you get through it?" Teal asked calmly.

"I don't know, I guess I just let it sink in." Blake shrugged.

"That's not exactly healthy for your mind." Teal gave her a look of concern and Blake avoided his gaze. She gave a sigh and continued walking. They reached Beacon and made it to the dorm rooms.

"I'll see you guys later." Blake said, she walked into her dorm and sat down on her bed. She lay back and let herself relax a bit. With everything going on, she was glad that she could get some downtime like this. She smiled as she gazed up at the bed above hers.

"Adam, why did you do the things you did?" Blake asked having the silence return her question. She couldn't get the thought out of her head, that it was somehow her fault for him being this way. She didn't know why, but she blamed herself for Adam's ruthless nature. Most of all, she blamed herself for allowing herself and Mag to get hurt.

" _I should take a shower, who knows when I'll be able to take another one."_ Blake thought to herself.

She got up, grabbed a towel from the closet and proceeded to the washroom. She closed the door and locked it behind her. She stepped out of her clothes and turned on the shower. She tested the water to make sure the temperature was alright and stepped in. The warm water felt amazing as it ran down her back.

" _I feels like I haven't had a shower in a century."_ Blake gave a smile as she ran her hands through her hair. She gave out a deep sigh and let all of her thoughts drain away. Blake could feel how tense her muscles were. She started washing her body from head to toe and felt the muscles that were tensed let go. Blake felt relaxed, more relaxed than she had been in a long time. Suddenly, the water started turning from warm to cold.

" _How long have I been in here for?"_ Blake questioned herself. She decided to get out of the shower and turned the water off. She stepped out and started to dry herself off. Once she was dry, she put on her pyjamas. She picked up her towel and closed the door behind her.

Blake threw her towel in the laundry hamper and hopped into her bed. She rolled onto her side and felt the comfort of herself being calm. Blake felt herself slipping from the reality and sleep sneaking up on her.

"I think that I needed this." Blake gave a smile and felt herself slip under sleep's spell.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Now we all agree, that bacon is good, and so is fish. but some people just don't want to have it at the current time, right?_

 _RedMoose:_ Yes, you are right

 _rwbyfan5:_ **And we all agree, that bacon is the food of the gods, right?**

 _RedMoose:_ If we are talking about camping then, HELL YES

 _Me: And that's the story of how a nuke was prevented. That's a relief and a half._

 _RedMoose:_ Where the hell did you get a nuke?

 _Me: …. That's not important, what is important, is nobody had a bad time._

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Megalovania plays in the distance***

 _RedMoose:_ Seriously, how the hell did the government not catch you.

Me: _A magician does not reveal his secrets, especially ones like this._

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Hides sacrificial pit***

 _RedMoose:_ When the fuck did you become a magician?! You are the least magical person I know.

 _Me: Well, I did have some help in becoming a MAGician. No then, I'm going to go to bed, see you all in the next o-_

 _RedMoose:_ So you fucked your OC…. Well congrats on fucking your own brain child #selfcest

 **Puck: *judges you in the distance***

 _Me: Why does anyone assume that? I don't understand, you've all been in the same place as me…_

 _RedMoose:_ Well…. First there is your "thing" with Blake…. She's a faunus… Mag is a faunus… You create characters like Mag in games…Answer: you want to fuck her.

 _Mag and Blake: *Looks at each other with questioning expressions*_

 _RedMoose:_ Ladies, three words for you to describe Spartan25798's fantasy… You, him, threesome.

 _Me: OKAY! I'm going to go to bed now! I hope to see you all in the next one!_

 _Blake:_ Is any of this true?

RedMoose: All of it is true, he has told me.

 _Me: *Bangs head against a wall as hard as humanly possible* I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING, DAMN IT!_

 _*Spartan25798 passes out from concussion*_

 _RedMoose:_ *Kicks body.* Yeah, this happened before, well he will try to deny his true feelings but in the end they will reign supreme…., So…. See ya'll in the next chapter. *Waves*


	23. The Uncertain Road Ahead

_**A.N.:**_ _This feels like it was a longer chapter to write…. Oh well…_

 _RedMoose:_ I am feeling homicidal right now.

 _Me: When has that ever changed?_

 _RedMoose:_ When I'm happy and not irritated.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Nox has the answer to eternal happiness. She gives it too dedicated disciples.**

 _RedMoose:_ I don't want, thank you very little.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Then you will die with the rest of the non-believers.**

 _RedMoose:_ I said I didn't want, I didn't say I don't believe.

 _Me: I feel like having ice cream right now. Does anyone else want ice cream?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **CHOCOLATE FOR THE CHOCOLATE-NOX!**

 _RedMoose:_ *Glares murderously at Spartan25798* I will also have chocolate.

 _Blake:_ Ice cream doesn't sound too bad right now, actually.

 _Me: Alright, I'll go get some ice cream then, see you guys in a bit. *Leaves to go find nearest ice cream shop*_

* * *

 **The Uncertain Road Ahead**

* * *

Steel was kicked in the shins and woke up in an instant. He got his bearings quickly and stood up. He felt like he hadn't been asleep for more than an hour at most. He shook of the sleepy feeling, and turned to Adam

"Where are we going?" Steel asked curiously.

"We're headed to our base in Mistrial." Adam replied bluntly.

"I see, so what's our next move?" Steel asked. He could feel the bullhead losing altitude meaning that they were coming in for a landing. As soon as they touched down, Adam walked out and turned to him.

"Our next move, is decided by our higher up." Adam stated.

"Alright." Steel nodded slightly

"Now then, I would like to introduce you to her." Adam said.

"Okay, when will that happen?" Steel asked.

"First, someone will show you to your quarters, then once you drop off anything you don't need, come find me in the main tent." Adam turned and waved his hand to dismiss Steel.

"Great, now what?" Steel asked. A boy, no older than he was, tapped him on the shoulder and asked Steel to follow him. They walked into a small tent with a sleeping bag and a lamp inside. The tent was smaller than most tents usually were, and was actually hard to crough in, but it did have a sense of safety to it.

"The command tent is over there, go find the captain when you're ready." The boy pointed to the large tent in the middle of the camp.

"Thank you." Steel smiled.

"Y-your welcome." The boy stuttered and walked out of Steels tent.

" _I wonder what's been going on since I've left."_ Steel thought to himself. He stood up once he got out of his tent and gave a stretch. He gazed upon the surprisingly large camp that had been set up in the swampy land.

"Alright, let's go meet the CO." Steel said to himself and walked toward the large tent. He could hear voices inside, but surprisingly enough, the tent's walls actually almost completely suppressed the sound inside. He walked to the front of the tent, and walked inside.

"But I need to know Adam. Could you kill her without hesitation?" The woman asked

"That does entirely remain to be seen as of the moment." Adam replied calmly.

"I guess it does, I take it that this is the boy from Vale." She assumed with a smirk.

"Yes, he was able to do quite well behind enemy lines given his age and all. He was quite convincing actually." Adam said, His words had a sense of fear mixed with praise intertwined with each other.

"I see, and how loyal is he to our cause?" She asked with a look of question.

"Very, considering that he did manage to fool all of his quote on quote, friends. Plus not hesitate to shoot them." Adam looked back.

"Then he's skilled, excellent, this will allow plans to move forward." The woman walked up to Steel and gazed upon him, head to toe.

"Ma'am." Steel nodded.

"I think you will be useful in many ways, allow me to introduce you to everyone." The woman turned to face the small group of people in the tent. "Those two are Emerald and Mercury." The two teens nodded in silence.

"Are they like me?" Steel asked.

"No, Emerald is a master at tricking the mind, while Mercury is very skilled in combat. They are my apprentices, you however, are a soldier." She smiled.

"That over there is Roman, and his associate Neapolitan." Neo was smiling at Steel making him slightly uncomfortable, while Roman started walking toward him.

"You know, I've seen my fair share of spies, traitors, and lowlifes, but I got to say, you are one of the best I've seen. Tricking even innocent little Red into believing you were her friend." Roman half praised half mocked.

"Glad to hear it, is there anyone else?" He asked turning away from Roman slightly.

"There's me. I am Cinder Fall, and you Steel Storm, are going to be working with me and my colleagues very closely." She smiled and tilted her head.

"Then let's get started." Steel smiled back.

"Excellent, but first things first. Have you ever heard the story of the Seasonal Maidens?" Cinder asked keeping her head on a tilt.

"Yeah, it's the one where four young women get unimaginable power from an old wizard because they showed great kindness toward him. Why do you ask?" Steel questioned.

"The old fairy tale is true, for I am, one of the four maidens." Cinder's eyes lit up startling Steel as he stepped backward in fear.

"Really? How?" Steel asked flabbergasted

"Well, you had a great part to play in me doing so, and you didn't even know it." Cinder smiled ominously.

"How did I do that?" Steel asked taking a deep breath.

"When Ozpin met his, unfortunate end, our plan was set in motion. We would cause a panic that would be unavoidable to miss and strike mass fear throughout all the kingdoms. When Vale got attacked, I would infiltrate the CCT and head to the vault." Cinder spawned a small flame in her hand.

"Once she was in the vault, she killed the previous Fall maiden, and claimed the powers for herself." Mercury finished.

"That's incredible how you pulled all of this off." Steel said in amazement.

"That's partly thanks to me by the way." A woman said walking into the tent.

"Oh yes, Steel, this is Oriana Marigold. She is our top infiltrator, and for good reason too." Cinder smiled. Oriana had dark red hair and sharp amber colored eyes. She was wearing a black, zip-up combat sweater. She had black leggings that came down to her ankles and what looked like leather arm bracers. It was hard to tell because they blended in with her clothing so well. She also was wearing black hiking boots to finish it off. She was faunus due to the tiny pox ears poking out of her head. She stepped forward and gave a warm smile.

"Oh stop, you flatter me." She chuckled.

"You are going to be working with her closely in the following months." Cinder said.

"Ooh, I think that we can get together just fine." She smiled seductively.

"I hope so too." Steel nodded.

"Now then let's talk about your first assignment together at the end of the month." Cinder zipped the tent shut, and no one on the outside could hear a thing.

* * *

Blake awoke to the sound of tapping at her window. It had begun to start raining outside while she was sleeping. She stretched out and went to go put on her normal clothing. Blake quickly put her attire on and opened the dorm's door to the hall. She made her way down to team STRM's dorm room and knocked on it lightly.

"Hey Blake, come on in." Teal smiled as he opened the door.

"Thanks, how are you guys?" Blake asked.

"I think that we're doing alright, considering everything that's happened." Teal replied. Mag sat up as Blake sat down on the edge of her bed. Teal sat down on Rusty's bed and they started talking.

"Good rest Blake?" Mag asked.

"Yeah, I guess it was." Blake nodded. "What about you guys?"

"Rusty didn't sleep a wink." Teal smirked.

"Why's that Rusty?" Mag tilted her head.

"He was making absolutely sure that Mag was alright." Teal smiled.

"Yeah, so what." Rusty said as his eyes went wide.

"Damn it Rusty, you know, that's really sweet and all, but I also find that kind of creepy." Mag said cringing a bit.

"I'm sorry, I just was just really worried about you Mag. To be fair, I don't feel tired." Rusty smiled coyly. Mag gave a sigh and shook her head.

"Despite all of that, thank you, for everything." Mag smiled.

"When do you think we should go back?" Blake asked dropping the conversation.

"I don't know, we should still have a bit more time before we have to go back through." Teal said looking at the clock on his desk.

"I guess, so what should we do?" Blake asked.

"I don't really know, we're kind of in the dark right now. I feel like we should be doing some recon of the area. Maybe dig up some intel." Blake suggested.

"I for one agree with that, we need to get back on our feet, and soon." Mag said confidently.

"I don't think you should be moving around a whole lot, you were kind of shot in the back and put into a paralysis state." Rusty said and looked at her with a blank expression.

"Rusty, I'm fine, don't worry about me." Mag assured him.

"Alright, if you say you're fine, who am I to argue." Rusty smiled at her.

"Now then, how do we want to go about this?" Teal asked.

"First of all, we need to find out where their operating, secondly, once we do that, we would need to do a lot of recon in the area." Blake said.

"But the problem is finding out where they are." Rusty pointed out.

"I think we should head back to the others, although the chance is slim, they could know something about this." Blake suggested.

"Alright, let's get going then." Teal smiled. The group got their things together and walked out of the building, bound for Vale.

* * *

" _I wonder what is going on in the other kingdoms, are they just as lost and confused as we are?"_ Ruby asked herself. She shook off her thoughts and continued to watch over their street. She needed to make sure that nothing got passed her. The only problem was that she was exhausted. She pulled Crescent Rose's scope up to her eye and scanned the street below. With the dusk coming up, it was actually pretty complicated to see anything at all.

" _Nothing, as usual._ " Ruby sighed and took one last look around. She spotted something moving a little ways back. It didn't have the body structure of any grimm, so it must be a person.

"Hey, umm guys. I can see a silhouette of some kind in the distance. It looks human, but I can't really tell." Ruby announced to the group sitting around the fire.

"Alright, Velvet, Yang, could you go investigate this? Ruby will give you cover fire just in case." Coco half asked half ordered.

"Yeah, we can do that, come on cottontail." Yang smiled at the bunny faunus as she got to her feet. Velvet shot Yang a look of question and Yang chuckled.

"Be back in a bit." Yang and Velvet walked down the stairs and out of the building.

"Yang, I saw it in that direction a couple blocks down." Ruby pointed down the street.

"You just watch our backs, make sure nothing sneaks up on us." Yang gave Ruby a thumbs up. Ruby smiled down at them and gave a thumbs up back. Yang and Velvet walked in silence as they went through the street. The got to the point where Ruby said the person was and looked around the area.

"Is anyone here?" Yang shouted.

"Well hey there." A man said from behind them. Both Velvet and Yang turned to meet his eyes. Velvet backed away in slight fear. Yang started beaming when she found out who it was.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang ran up and hugged her uncle who hugged her back.

"Hey Yang, where is your sister?" Qrow asked looking around.

"She's up at our base camp. I take it you've heard about what happened here." Yang sighed.

"Nope, all I know is that a CCT network went down and all coms have been cut. So naturally, I came back once my objective was complete." Qrow smiled.

"Well, I guess you didn't watch the news, we're kind of screwed here." Yang said.

"Well, I guess you could say that I'm the screwdriver to tighten us back up then." Qrow smiled, Yang and Velvet let out a small chuckled and they walked back. As they got within visual range of the camp, Ruby dashed out of the doors and tackle Qrow.

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby shouted happily.

"Hey there squirt, how have things been?" Qrow asked.

"Well, everything is kind of crazy right now." Ruby sighed.

"Come on then, get me up to speed." Qrow said walking ahead of the three girls. They walked into the camp and took a seat around the small fire.

"Hello, I don't believe we've been introduced." Coco said standing up.

"The names Qrow, I'm an associate of professor Ozpin and Goodwitch. Also, I'm their uncle." He said pointing to Ruby and Yang.

"Really, well I'm Weiss Schnee, I'm one of their teammates." Weiss said holding out her hand.

"Pleasure miss Schnee." He said smiling.

"Now then, I'll bet you're wondering what happened in at least one of the other kingdoms, would I be right?" Qrow said. This put everyone on high alert.

"We should go get Blake and the others in that case." Weiss said suggestively.

"Alright, go get you friend then." Qrow said lying down staring up at the ceiling.

"Hey guys, we're here!" Rusty shouted from downstairs

"Well, that's convenience in a nutshell for you." Yang smiled.

"We're up here!" Ruby shouted down to them. They walked in and sat around by the fire with everyone else.

"Well, I guess the gang's all here now, so I guess we can start." Qrow said.

"Who's this?" Rusty asked.

"This is our uncle Qrow, and he might have some intel on where they went." Ruby explained.

"Sweet, the sooner I can kick Steel's ass, the happier I will become." Mag said gazing up to the sky outside.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I do believe I know where their base is." Qrow said pulling out a flask.

"And where is it then?" Blake asked ecstatically

"Well, from what I've dug up, it appears that their main operating camp is in Mistrial. And it's also quite close to Haven from what I hear." Qrow said taking a sip from the flask.

"And how on the face of Remnant do we get there? It's across an ocean." Rusty pointed out.

"That's problematic." Weiss said in agreement.

"Not if you have a ship, either water or air based." Qrow said.

"Do you have one?" Mag asked curiously.

"I might, but, I don't think any of you can fly so, it seems like I'll have to come with you guys." Qrow smirked

"You know all of this, it would be safe to assume you just came from Mistrial. Are you sure you want to go back there?" Blake asked.

"You know, you've got great attention to detail, has anyone ever told you that? Regardless, I think traveling is fun, that's one of the reason I'm in this line of work." Qrow stood up and stretched out.

"So what's the plan then?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about, as far as I'm concerned, you're about to kidnap me and steal my boat. Mainly because you know that Goodwitch would never allow you to leave. So I'll just leave that bit up to you guys." Qrow smiled and took another sip from his flask.

"Alright, let's pack up then, I want to go find that damn traitor." Rusty said picking up Fine Poloveroso.

"One thing at a time Rusty, we don't know for sure that he's there." Blake said quietly.

"I don't care, when I find him, I'll kill him!" Rusty shouted, after about five seconds, he gave out a sigh and shook the thoughts out of her head. He threw Fine Poloveroso onto his back and sat back down.

"Alright, I guess we should head out soon then." Mag sighed.

"Not so fast there, I still need to report in to Goodwitch." Qrow said sweeping his hair back.

"Okay, we'll get ready here and wait for you." Ruby said.

"What about team JNPR, are they able to come as well?" Teal asked.

"I'd doubt it, the ship can pretty much only hold eight people, so." Qrow said trailing off. He stood up and walked toward the door.

"Alright, we'll see you in a bit then. We should tell team JNPR regardless." Yang said.

"Okay, see you soon kiddos." Qrow smiled as he he walked out of the door.

"All and all, he's quite well built." Coco smiled coyly.

"Hey, that's my uncle you know." Ruby said with a glare as cold as death.

"I'm joking, it's fine." Coco smiled in what looked like fear.

"You better be, or I think you're going to have a bad time, in more ways than one." Yang said pulling out Ember Celica and started checking the rounds.

"R-right." Coco stuttered.

"Come on, let's go tell them the news then get Qrow." Yang said.

"You guys stay, I'll go tell them, It'll be faster." Ruby smiled and took off out the door.

"You know, I really hate it when she does that sometimes." Yang shook her head and sighed. She walked over to the overwatch point and looked out the window.

"Hey, a Beowolf." Yang smiled. She took aim with Ember Celica. She lined up her shot and fired. The Beowolf looked up and met the end of a slug round to its chest. She smiled as the Beowolf was sent flying into the air and gave a sigh of happiness.

"Come on Yang, we're going to leave once Ruby gets back." Weiss shouted. Yang smiled and walked back into the room to get her things together. This was actually happening, and Yang couldn't believe it. They were leaving Vale to travel to a new kingdom, and she couldn't wait.

* * *

"I'm back." Ruby sighed as she walked in.

"And how did it go?" Weiss asked walking up to great her back inside.

"Nora was upset, but they understood. They also wish us a ton of luck as well." Ruby smiled slightly. She gave another sigh and walked upstairs to the main camp.

"Are we ready to go?" Weiss asked as she walked in with Ruby.

"Yeah, we should be." Teal replied.

"Alright, I already have my things, so I'm ready to go." Ruby smiled.

"Sweet, then we can get going right now?" Mag aske.

"Well, assuming that my pilot is where we're supposed to meet with the ship, yes we are." Qrow said taking a sip from his flask.

"Do you always get drunk when you're on the job?" Blake asked rolling her eyes.

"First of all, I don't get drunk unless I want too. Secondly, yes I do." Qrow put his flask away and gave a slight hiccup. He rolled his head and started walking toward the door.

"We'll see you guys later then." Blake said picking up Gambol Shroud.

"Just come back in one piece, then buy us a dinner, and you won't have to worry about us telling anyone." Coco smiled. Yatsuhashi gave her a blunt look and she smiled back at him.

"Alright, see you guys." Mag said taking a breath. Team CFVY waved and the rest of the team walked out of the building to head to the docks.

* * *

"Wow, an op this big for my first one huh?" Steel said in surprise. The two of them were in Steel's small tent discussing their newly assigned operation.

"What? It's a simple snatch and grab. Trust me, we'll be fine as long as you watch my back. Just out of interest, because you were in a huntsman school, you must have your own weapon right?" Oriana asked tilting her head a bit.

"Yeah, I called it Axe Gevar." Steel smiled pulling out his folded up battleaxe. He unsheathed the axe into its attack form and put the barrel of the rifle on the ground.

"I see, hmm, alright, I can work with this, as long as that's a rifle on the bottom of that." Oriana said as she examined the axe up and down.

"Yeah, it is." Steel picked the barrel up and Oriana started examining it closely.

"Could I borrow it for a minute?" She asked holding her hand out.

"Sure, just don't break anything on it." Steel said handing the axe to her. She looked at the barrel at eye level and to the point where she had zoned everything else out and was focused on the barrel of the weapon. She put her hand on the end of the barrel and twisted it slightly.

"What are you doing?" Steel asked inching toward her a bit.

"Could I borrow this and give it back to you tomorrow?" She asked pointing at the end of the barrel.

"I guess, just don't lose it. That's the only thing that makes the rounds fly straight." Steel said. She twisted the end of the barrel off and slipped it in her back pocket.

"I'll get this back to you tomorrow, don't you worry." She smiled with a sly look.

"Okay, I'm trusting you with that." Steel nodded.

"Alright, don't push yourself too hard this next week, our mission is on Sunday." Oriana smiled. She waved back to him as she walked out of his tent. Steel sighed and put his axe into its compact form again and put it beside his mattress.

"Well, this has felt like a long day." Steel sighed and he sat down on the mattress. He smiled at the thought of what he had done, and what was about to come. Steel gazed up at the top of the tent and lay back on the mattress. He closed his eyes and tried getting himself comfortable. Steel noticed that he was still wearing his battle armor and sat up to take it off. He pulled off the chestplate and the shoulder pads and set them to the side. He set them beside the mattress beside Axe Gevar and fell back onto the mattress wearing his jeans and black undershirt.

" _I can do this, it's just another job."_ Steel told himself. He closed his eyes and sighed. Before he knew it, sleep had creeped up on him by surprise and took Steel under its spell.

* * *

Steel felt himself drifting in between the realms of sleep. He felt a light fill his consciousness and faded into the dream's reality. He stood up and looked around the room slowly. The room felt oddly familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen it before. Inside the room were four beds, four desks, a wardrobe, closet, and a nightstand by each bed. The room felt oddly lit as he stood in the center of the room. Suddenly, the door opened and people started walking inside. They were children about his age, and he felt like he knew them. Steel turned to face them as one of the boys walked right up to them. Before the boy could stop, he ran into Steel. Steel felt the impact and landed on his butt.

" _Ouch, that actually hurt."_ Steel thought to himself. He stood up to find the three teens standing around him. He could feel like he knew exactly who each of them was, but couldn't place a finger on who they were.

"How sad, he doesn't even remember us." The girl said as a wide grin slid across her face.

"Why would he, after what he did, I would want to forget that." The boy in armor said with a smile crawling across his face as well.

"I'm a forgiving person, but you, what you did was unforgivable, even for me." The last boy said. All three of them had smiles across their faces and were freaking Steel out.

"I know you, but I don't know your names." Steel looked around at the teen surrounding him and sighed.

"You betrayed us. You hurt us. You tortured us. You killed us!" The three of them all said together. Steel started panicking. He looked around the room but found that he couldn't move his legs. The three teens surrounding him were closing in step by step. They all pulled out axe's identical to Axe Gevar and raised them above their heads. As they swung down, he remembered who they were. They were his old teammates, and friends. He felt the axe's swing at him and he closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

Steel awoke with a fast pacing heart rate and sweat dripping down his face. He hit around his body to make sure that he was in reality this time and gave a sigh of relief to know he was still alive. Steel places his head in his hands and took a deep breath.

" _It was just a dream, it was just a dream._ " Steel told himself. Even though he knew this, he knew he wouldn't be getting any more sleep for a while. He stood up and opened his tent. The air felt cold compared to Vale at night. Steel shivered for a moment before his natural body heat kicked in to help warm him up. Steel walked around the camp a little bit, only to find not a single soul in sight. He heard a clang from one of the larger tents and a few muttered curse words. He walked up to the tent and stood by the entrance.

"Hey, are you alright in there?" Steel asked just loud enough for whoever was inside to hear him. He heard something drop to the ground and a slight gasp from inside. The person inside the tent unzipped the opening and poked her head out. Steel gave a warm smile to find out that it was Oriana

"Steel? Is that you?" She whispered.

"Yeah, are you alright? I heard some noises from the tent so I had to make sure that everything was alright." Steel asked calmly.

"Oh, yeah I'm okay, I was just working on something. Why don't you come in" She smiled moving out of the way.

"Yeah, sure, I've got nothing else I need to do. Especially at this time of night." Steel rolled his eyes and ducked into the tent. It was almost to the point where you could stand inside the tent straight and not hunch over at all. It was a fairly large space with one mattress, folding table and a small stool. The inside was lit by a lantern on the top righthand corner of the table.

"Whoa, this is really nice." Steel said looking around.

"Thanks, I do my best to keep it clean, but that can be trouble sometimes." Oriana smiled.

"Well, you're doing a good job right now anyways." Steel smiled lightly.

"Hey, I wanted to show you something. I've been working on this all night, and I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but since you're here, I'll give it to you now." Oriana walked over to her table and picked up a black cylinder. She held out her hand and put the cylinder in his hands.

"What is it?" Steel asked examining the object.

"It's a suppressor for your Axe Gevar." She smiled.

"Did you make this?" Steel asked in surprise.

"Yeah, with the customizations you put onto the barrel itself, it was quite tricky to find one that worked. So instead, I made one from some older suppressors lying around the camp." Oriana gave a sigh.

"This is really thoughtful. You know, you didn't have to do this." Steel sighed.

"Well, your barrel didn't have a suppressor attachment on it, so I decided to take a load off of your back and make one for you." She smiled.

"Well, I guess that makes sense, but sti-" Steel started only to get cut off.

"Also I didn't want us to be discovered in case you accidentally fire your weapon while we're infiltrating this mansion." Oriana chuckled as Steel's cheerful expression dropped.

"You really don't trust me do you?" Steel asked.

"I trust people based on how they fight. If they can hold their own, then they're fine in my books." Oriana handed Steel the end of his barrel which she must have used to base the suppressor off of.

"I guess that makes sense." Steel nodded slightly.

"Okay, well I'm going to go to bed then, I'll see you tomorrow." She sighed.

"Yeah, alright, and thanks for this by the way." Steel said holding up the custom made suppressor.

"Don't thank me, tomorrow is going to feel like a living hell." Oriana smiled.

"Why's that?" Steel backed up slightly.

"We're going to train you up for this mission, and it's not exactly going to be fun." Oriana said folding her arms.

"Alright, then I'm going to go get some more sleep." Steel said stepping out of the tent.

"Ten O'clock tomorrow. Be here at that time." Oriana said.

"Okay, got it." Steel chuckled lightly.

"Good, then I'll see you tomorrow then." Oriana smiled.

"See you then." Steel stepped outside and gave a sigh. He looked at the suppressor attachment that Oriana had made for him. He knew that he wasn't the stealthiest of characters, but, he did have his moments, no matter how few they were.

" _Am I making the right decisions with my life?"_ Steel thought to himself. He sighed and went back to his tent. He lay back on the mattress and closed his eyes. He almost eagerly awaited sleep to come up on him. As he lay there with his eyes closed, it felt like sleep didn't want anything to do with him. Steel relaxed all of his muscles and gave a sigh. Steel finally fell asleep slowly crawl up on him as it took him under its spell. Steel woke up three more times during the night due to the constant amount of painful nightmares that continued to stalk him until morning.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _So, yeah, that happened._

 _RedMoose:_ I will stab you with a knife made of chocolate ice cream.*Seathes with murderous intent.*

 _Me: CRAP! I forgot to ask the readers if they wanted any. What a terrible person I am… I'll just ask them next time!_

 _RedMoose:_ They can't have any, they're not here. *Continues to seathe with murderous intent.*

 _Me: well, here's the ice cream everyone wanted. *Starts passing the ice cream around….. Only to drop the tray holding all of it.*_

 _RedMoose:_ *Stabs Spartan25798 with a knife made of ice cream.* Die by what you love so dearly!

 _Me: Well, that's not the thing that I love so dearly so… *Looks at Blake.*_

 _RedMoose:_ Blake stab him. *Looks at Blake, grabs laser pointer, points at Spartan25798.* Kill him. What you live will kill you.

 _Me: Now Blake, we are still friends, right? *Backs away slowly*_

 _Blake:_ I must resist the, red, light… It's taking all of my body over. Must. Resist. Urge. To. Pounce. On. Light!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **POINT IT AT HIS JUNK!**

 _Me: I'm not sure if that's a good idea or a bad one…_

 _RedMoose:_ Happily *points 3 laser pointers at Spartan25798's Blake Belladonna Futa Hentai pics then points 3 more laser pointers at Spartan25798's junk*

 _Blake:_ *Eyes start twitching involuntarily from all of the laser pointers.*

 _Me: Blake, it's okay, just try not to kill me, alright._

 _Rusty:_ FIND OUT NEXT TIME TO SEE IF SPARTAN25798 GET'S HIS BALLS CRUSHED OR NOT!

 _Me: You'll know if that happens because there won't be a next chapter if it does… See you all in the next one... I hope._


	24. On The Road

_**A.N.:**_ _I'm hungry, is anyone else hungry?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***aggressively munches on sacrificial nachos* Noh wewy, whai?**

 **Puck: Fan, don't talk with your mouth full.**

 _RedMoose:_ Sort of… I mean, I did just feast of the blood of mortals last night…. So not really.

 _Me: Why is it always something to do with sacrifice? Why can't people here just eat normal food like actual people?_

 _RedMoose:_ I can eat "normal" food, but blood gives a rush of euphoria like nothing else.

 _Me: Just please for the love of everything holy, don't eat anyone I know, or any of the readers…_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***CREEPS UP BEHIND SPARTAN25798 CREEPILY* Enjoy the story, boys and girls...**

* * *

 **On The Road**

* * *

"So, this is the ship?" Rusty asked looking at the older dropship.

It's design was very similar to a bullhead except the design was thinner and shorter. It had eight seats in the back near the small sliding door, and a sliding door in front of the seating area leading to the cockpit.

"Yep, this puppy's old, but she's still flyable." Qrow said stepping on board.

"Yeah, this thing looks fine." Mag smiled and walked up to the door. Qrow helped her up and she disappeared inside the ship.

"It'll be fine Rusty. Wait a minute, you're not afraid of flying are you?" Yang asked as Qrow helped her up onto the ship.

"Wa- what, no, of course not, I just don't trust older airships, that's all." Rusty said putting on a fake smile.

"Fearing that they'll be too _rusty_ to fly?" Yang chuckled.

"Something like that, yeah." Rusty smiled allowing Blake, Teal and Ruby to climb aboard.

"Well, come on then kid, put it this way, if we crash, that just means you were right about something." Qrow said grabbing Rusty from the arm and pulling him onto the ship in surprise.

"Yeah, that will be a first." Mag chuckled.

Rusty got to his feet and hit his head on the roof causing a thud. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at the seating arrangements. The two seats left were both near windows. All he would have to do is turn his body and head a bit to face the wall behind him, then the window would be right there.

" _Does god hate me right now, or is it just because he's bored and wants someone to suffer?"_ Rusty asked in his head. He sat down beside Mag seeing how the last seat had been taken by Qrow to sit beside Ruby. He gave a sigh and sat down. The seats were just enough to seat one person, they didn't have a backrest and armrests, and the seat was hard due to a lack of padding on the bottom.

"Alright, we're good to go." Qrow shouted. As he finished, the engines on the ship began to purr as they started moving.

"I for one hate flying, I don't know why, but I just remembered that slight detail now." Mag said shaking a bit.

"We'll be there in no time Mag, don't worry about it." Ruby smiled. They felt the airship start to take off as it lifted into the air slightly. They heard the loud roar of the engines as the ship flew vertically upward.

"You alright Mag?" Teal asked beside her.

"Yeah, I'll be alright. I just need a minute to get used to the feeling of flight." Mag said feeling quite unsure of herself and the situation she was in.

"What about you Rusty!? How are you taking this!?" Teal shouted over the loud roar of the engines.

"Shut up Teal, I'm totally fine!" Rusty said closing his eyes and clutching the bottom of his seat like it was a matter of life or death. Teal chuckled, thankfully the sound was drowned out by the engines, otherwise he'd have to deal with a pissed of Rusty for the entire trip.

"You know Rusty. If you throw up, shoot it that way!" Yang said pointing at the door.

"FUCK OFF!" Rusty shouted.

"Hey, no swearing on this ship." Qrow scolded alongside a swift, cold, death glare.

"Sorry, I meant to just say shut up." Rusty said giving a fake innocent smile.

"The next time I hear a swear word from you, I'll haul you over to the door and throw you out of this airship with my bare hands." Qrow glared. Rusty's eyes went wide in fear. He turned away from the huntsman's gaze and turned to Mag who gave a shrug his way.

"We'll be flying out over the ocean in a while. Just a slight heads up for all of you youngsters on this flight." Qrow said looking out the window. The Ocean could be seen on the horizon and was approaching fairly quick.

"Okay, that's fine. The only thing that will change is wind speeds." Yang pointed out bravely. Just then, the airship passed out over the open waters and the stronger wind in the area knocked the ship around a bit. They were still flying straight, but almost everyone inside had almost fallen out of their seats. Rusty got his footing on his side before the ship jarred itself and she shook off the shock. He looked over at Mag who had half fallen on his leg. She sat up and looked at him stunned.

"Uh-Wha- I, um, I'm sorry." Mag said turning her head away from Rusty.

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Rusty said looking down. He looked at his leg where Mag's hand was. It was fairly obvious that she didn't know where her hand was as it was constantly shaking. Rusty gave a slight blush and looked away from his teammate. He felt her hand twitch and snap away from him as she turned her back to him.

He looked up at the others across from him and saw Yang smiling. He gave her a questioning look and she started snickering. Rusty rolled his eyes and looked out the window again. They were definitely flying over water now. Rusty sighed and looked back at the others.

"I'm still anxious to get there. Can you believe we're actually going to a new kingdom?" Ruby asked happily.

"I'll admit, it is quite exciting. I never actually been to Mistrial before." Weiss stated.

"Really? I thought you've been everywhere." Qrow said in mild surprise.

"My family has. I never went with them because I would need to focus on my studies." Weiss looked up and gave a small sigh of regret.

"Bad idea?" Ruby asked.

"I don't really know at this point anymore." Weiss replied looking her teammate in the eyes.

"Well, we're going now at least." Teal smiled.

"That's true I guess." Weiss nodded.

"Alright team, we should focus on our objective. Uncle Qrow, where are we landing in Mistrial." Ruby asked.

"Well, basing on how we're not trying to attract attention, we should probably land with about an hour of walking distance between us and Mistrial." Qrow said decisively.

"That would give us a stealth edge, plus, depending on how chaotic things got down there, we might not want people thinking we're a rescue ship or, something along those lines anyway." Blake said letting her chin rest on her palm.

"But we don't know what's going on since communications went down. This could be a bit more tricky than we thought." Teal pointed out.

"I personally think we should take the safer route and land farther away from the kingdom." Weiss stated calmly.

"Yeah, but that includes walking." Rusty groaned.

"Yep, and that's something that you need to do more of, so let's take the long route." Mag said putting on an extremely face innocent smile. Yang started chuckling alongside Teal and Ruby from the remark.

"Well, I guess we're walking then. Hey Cobalt! Would you find a clearing when we're over Mistrial?" Qrow shouted to the pilot

Sure." The back to them. They felt the airship bank right a bit as they turned and adjusted themselves in their seats. They were still over open ocean and they still had a long way to go. Ruby, Weiss, Yang and even Qrow decided that they could use a break and allowed their bodies to "power down." Due to the rest beforehand, Blake, Teal, Rusty and Mag all stayed up and began to chat amongst each other.

"I wouldn't be able to get any rest like this." Rusty said looking at the sleeping group.

"Well, Ruby, Yang look peaceful enough." Blake said sending them a soft smile. The two were leaning against each other and in a very tranquil state.

Qrow had just leaned back and started to sleep somehow. Weiss was similar to Qrow but she was in the corner looking like she was asleep, but very uncomfortable.

"Do you think we'll find Steel?" Mag asked timidly.

"I'd sure like to clock him a few times." Rusty growled.

"Easy Rusty, I think we should hear his side of the story before we come to any conclusions." Blake said calmly.

"How do you stay so calm talking about him? He did shoot you in the back and almost get you killed after all." Rusty said raising an eyebrow. Blake gave a shrug and sighed.

"I'm in agreement with Blake, we should hear him out." Mag said and closed her eyes.

"Wh-wh-what? Mag, you too?" Rusty asked in astonishment.

"Everyone should be given a second chance, no matter how much the person has hurt you." She sighed again.

"He was our team leader after all." Teal nodded. The three of them looked at the shocked Rusty and he turned his head away from them.

"If this is the way to do this, then I'll try to give him a second chance." Rusty grumbled. There was a long silence and the purr of the engines took over the sound in the air entirely.

* * *

For the rest of journey to Mistrial, the airship was quiet and for the most part, peaceful. The arrived over land at last and the pilot buzzed on the ship's intercom for everyone to wake up. Qrow glanced out the window and pulled a sheathed greatsword off of his lower back. The airship started to gradually lose altitude as Cobalt tried to find a clearing.

"On your left!" Qrow pointed to a large enough hole in the tree line for them to hop out. Cobalt brought the airship down close and opened the doors.

"Come on." Qrow said hopping out of the ship.

The others looked at each other briefly before following to give themselves a sense of security. Once on their feet again, the airship turned back around and flew the way that they had came.

"Where is it going?" Ruby asked moving her body so she could keep an eye on it.

"I told them to bring us here and then fly back to Vale, can't have them running out of fuel." Qrow said dismissively.

"Great, so we're stuck here now?" Rusty asked, pretending to be calm.

"Well, you did say you wanted to get here to try to find your friend, didn't mention you wanted to go back any time soon." Qrow turned away from them and started walking into the woods.

"Eww, this water is gross!" Ruby squealed.

"It's a swamp, I wouldn't really expect clean water Ruby." Teal said looking at his feet.

They started walking around the swamp water and stayed on as much dry land as possible. The hour trip to the kingdom quickly turned into a three hour hike up to the kingdoms base. The swamp around Mistrial was extremely muddy and in a large uphill slope sitting at an almost sixty degree slope. There was a large gate at the entrance with a large road coming down the slope. The group walked up the slope and approached the gate. There were a few huntsman looking men at the front gate looking like they were guarding the entrance. They stopped the group and Qrow stepped forward

"Excuse me, my name is Qrow Branwen. I'm here on official business from Beacon Academy in Vale, by order of Glynda Goodwitch." Qrow said presenting himself professionally. He walked up to the guard and handed him some papers. The man looked them over and gave a nod

"Due to the recent attack in Vale, we've been eager for any news from there." The one guard made a signal with his hand and the gate started to open. "Head up to the school near the back of the kingdom and report to the headmaster there." He pointed up to the top of the hill where a CCT tower was. He nodded and they walked inside.

"What was that all about?" Weiss asked.

"Do you think that Goodwitch would allow me to take seven children, who are training to be huntsman and huntresses, out of the kingdom for no reason?" Qrow said giving a small smile.

"So, what about finding Steel?" Mag asked.

"First things first. We need to give the headmaster this intel." Qrow said. The city was almost dead quiet. With all of the communications gone, many people weren't doing anything and were just inside sitting around.

"That wasn't part of the plan." Rusty said with a cold glare.

"Who knows, maybe the headmaster has some idea where your friend is." Qrow said and kept moving through the near empty streets. They walked in silence until they reached the school. It didn't look much different than Beacon did. But the important part was that they had made it. They were at Haven, the Mistrial Academy.

* * *

"Keep your head up Steel!" Oriana shouted from across the room. They were in an abandoned warehouse that had wooden structures inside of it. They were practicing him moving through the room without being detected by the White Fang members inside. The walls were set up to resemble that of a large house or mansion. This made it difficult to navigate due to the large halls and little to no cover. Steel peeked around a corner just enough so he could see. There were two men walking toward him.

"Great, there is a large hallway, with no cover, and at least two constant patrols. Of course the rules of engagement are restricted too." Steel grumbled under his breath. He looked up at the ceiling for an alternate solution.

" _She did say up."_ Steel thought. He thought for a minute and gave a smile. " _If I can suspend myself against the walls, I could move above the patrols, the only problem is doing it quietly."_ Steel hopped above the patrol as they passed just like he had planned. " _Wait a minute, they're a patrol."_

" _Come on Steel, now follow them, their a patrol, they loop back around."_ Oriana thought to herself.

She smiled as he hopped down silently and began to follow the group of two men. He glanced around the corner to check for any more patrols around the corner. There were surprisingly none and he kept following the patrol around the winding hallway. He checked inside each room quietly as he followed from a distance behind the patrol. Steel opened a door with a man sitting at a chair facing the wall. He went inside and closed the door behind him. He checked the room for anyone else and found no one. He walked up behind the man and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped slightly at the unexpected feeling.

"I'd say you passed, you definitely snuck up on me. Basing on that, I'd say you snuck past the patrols as well." The man stood up and turned to face him.

"Adam?" Steel asked in astonishment.

"Yes, I guess that you and Oriana are ready for this task." He said with a sigh.

"What task, the infiltration?" Steel edged himself forward a bit.

"I will tell you two all of the details later, for now, just debrief with her and go over what you've learned." Adam said, without another word, he walked passed Steel and into the dark hallway

"What's up with him?" Steel thought aloud.

"Alright everyone, pack it in already!" Oriana shouted from the catwalk above him. A series of sighs and agreements came from the warehouse below and everyone began to start leaving.

"Steel, wherever you are, meet me in the main office when you're ready." Oriana turned and walked from the catwalk to the office on the second floor in the far right corner of the room. He walked up the stair to the catwalk and looked down at the scene below.

"It seems so simple from above." Steel muttered. He took a deep breath, turned toward the door, and walked inside the room.

"Ah, Steel, I'm actually surprised you did so well on your first faked field assignment. Truth be told, I was actually detected on my first go at it." Oriana gave a soft smile.

"Really?" Steel asked in astonishment.

"No, I just wanted to raise your morale." Oriana said holding back a chuckle.

"Well, at least you know how to do that." Steel said with a sigh.

Oriana gave a soft smile and sighed "Than-"

"Did I mention that you also know how to shoot it down just as well." Steel asked giving his head a slight tilt. Oriana glared menacingly at him and Steel gave a chuckle of fear in response.

"Well, I think that it's time to tell you about our assignment." Oriana gave a sigh and the room went silent.

"Alright, let's hear it." Steel said almost bouncing impatiently.

"Steel, this is serious now, I need you to answer my next question honestly." Oriana said not looking up at him in the slightest.

"Oh, alright." Steel said calming down a lot.

"Okay, my question for you is, when you knew her as your friend. How much did you like Weiss Schnee?"

* * *

"So this is Haven huh?" Yang said in acceptance.

"I've read into Mistrial, but I didn't think that Haven would look so similar." Teal said admitavely.

"Wait until you see the inside before you make any judgements." Qrow said walking up to the main doors.

"Based on what's been happening around the world, I wouldn't really expect it to be fancy like it probably is usually." Blake said with a sigh.

"Who knows. It can't be that bad, right?" Mag said with a soft smile.

"That's the spirit Mag!" Ruby said sporadically.

"Well, what are we waiting for." Yang asked hopefully.

"If you don't want to, I'll meet the headmaster by myself. Regardless, I'm leaving now." Qrow said walking through the main doors. The group of seven exchanged a series of looks with one another before following Qrow closely. The interior felt much like Beacon, except with Mistrialian Banners lining some of the walls instead of Valerian ones. The hallways also looked like they were smaller in height as well.

"Feel similar?" Qrow asked.

"Very, It's so much like Beacon." Rusty said admiring the scene.

"Well, let's meet up with the headmaster then, he's a pretty nice guy, despite being a bit stuck up at times." Qrow said calmly. They continued walking until they reached a courtyard.

"Why are we in the school's courtyard again?" Yang asked.

"Cloud likes to take a walk through here at this time of day." Qrow explained bluntly.

"Okay, who's that?" Rusty asked.

"I'm him, and I must say Qrow, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon." A large faunus man said coming up from behind the group. He had the appearance almost that of a king with knights armor. With his goat horns sticking out of his head, he stood slightly taller that Qrow and was more broad in length. He had a brown trimmed beard, light brown hair. His armor covered his entire body and had a goldish tint to it.

"You always did underestimate things, didn't you." Qrow smiled taking out his flask.

"Now, now Qrow, you don't just barge into my school and insult me do you?" The man asked softly.

"A-and you are?" Ruby inched herself forward a bit.

"Ah, allow me to introduce myself. My name, is Cloud Periwinkle, I am the headmaster of this once great school. However, due to the recent events in Vale, I'm afraid that I can no longer carry that title so easily though, especially when so many have suffered." The man avoided their gaze for a minute before taking a deep breath and looking up at them with a warm smile.

"Are you alright? You seem worried." Mag observed his reaction closely. The man took another breath and looked directly at her with soft, calm eyes.

"Mag, if you were in his position, wouldn't you be worried about your students too?" Teal said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh,don't worry about me, I would just like to know the condition of my students." The old man looked around at the group carefully.

"I will discuss this with you in private, however, I cannot simply leave these young ladies." Qrow started and looked up at the man.

"I see, I shall have one of my teachers take care of them while we talk." Cloud gave the group a smile.

"Ha! Qrow just called you a girl!" Rusty said pointing at Steel.

"You know, last time I checked, you said you were male too, right? Unless you're hiding something down there." Yang teased and leaned forward to get a reaction out of Rusty. Rusty pulled Fine Polvorosa out and switched to the shotgun mode. He pointed the barrel of the rifle at Yang's head with a cold look across his face. Yang unfolded Ember Celica and prepared to fight back swiftly. Before either one of them could make a move, a large trident shot down in the middle of the two separating them.

"I do not mind sparring matches. However, fighting over simple things like this, in the school's courtyard no less, is something I will not tolerate." Cloud glared at the two of them while picking the trident out of the ground.

"S-s-sorry." Yang said letting Ember Celica fold up and she backed away slowly.

"I-it won't happen again." Rusty said putting Fine Poloveroso away as well.

"I should hope not, now then, one of my staff members will be around shortly, please wait here." Cloud said as he folded up his trident. He walked up to Qrow and sighed.

"Shall we?" Qrow asked putting his flask away.

"Ah yes, now let us proceed." Cloud said walking off to the interior of the building. Qrow shrugged and followed close behind.

"Well then, now what do we do, we're not going to find anything just standing around." Yang said with a sigh.

"I think we should wait for the teacher, then ask them if they know anything." Black said reasonably. She took a quick look around to see if anyone was coming to get them yet. The group waited in the courtyard for about five minutes before a woman walked up to them with a soft smile across her face. She was wearing a dark black suit with near perfection. She had purple hair, and brown eyes. Her face also had a few freckles scattered around as well.

"So you are the students the headmaster was talking about. Alright, if you would please follow me." She turned away and began walking back the way she came. The group exchanged looks before following closely.

"You'll have to excuse the mess that the school is in, ever since communications went down across Remnant, things have been a little hectic." She said hiding the sigh that followed.

"Things are worse in Vale to tell you the truth. Because of the attack at Amity, all hunters have been stationed inside a medical camp in Vale, not far from Beacon Academy." Blake said calmly.

"I see, things really are as bad as we feared." She sighed.

"There was nobody left in the crash site for your information. Mag over there, a huntsman, and myself got everyone who was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crash, but lucky enough to survive out safely." Teal said and he took a deep breath. Mag nodded slowly and the eight of them walked into a separate room.

"Well, until Mr Branwen arrives, I'll be taking care of you. Speaking of which, Qrow usually does things by himself,so why are seven students who I assume are from Beacon traveling with him." The lady asked keeping a formal attitude about her.

"Well, our original plan for coming here was to try to find the leader of our team named Steel." Rusty cringed at his former leader's name.

"That does explain why you're here, but why is your leader in Mistrial? They would be your age so they must still be a hunter in training." She tilted her head slightly. Teal gave a smile as he realised what she was doing. She was trying to seem friendly to get information out of the group. He looked at Blake and she nodded back to him.

"We don't really know what happened to him." Teal said following with a fake sigh.

"We suspected that the faunus group known as the White Fang took him, and we have reasons to believe that he was taken to the kingdom." Blake added.

"I see, and there is nothing else that you know?" She asked calmly.

"No." Teal replied before anyone else could.

"I see, I would like to help you in any way that I can. Now, if you could just wait here for a moment, I will check my sources." She smiled and walked out of the room.

"Do you two mind telling us what that was about?" Weiss asked raising an eyebrow.

"She was trying to get information out of us, the thing is, we were the only ones who caught on to it." Teal explained calmly. He looked around the room that they were in. It looked similar to a classroom, however, it was definitely smaller, and there was a singular table in the center of the room.

"So that's why you said those things." Mag sighed. Teal gave a smile her way and looked at the door. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before sharply opening them.

"You know, eavesdropping isn't a very nice thing to be doing to people." Teal said toward the door. Everyone turned toward the door as the teacher who was briefly in the room walked into the door frame.

"I must say that was quite impressive." The teacher said with a smile.

"Why were you listening to our conversation?" Yang said putting herself in a fighting stance.

"Because the headmaster wanted some more information on you, so I accepted that and tried to get some information. I would still like to help you find your friend however." She nodded slightly and turned away from the group.

"If you can find anything about the White Fang in Mistrial, that would be the best help possible." Blake said.

"I'll see if I can dig anything up once the headmaster and Mr Branwen are done talking. In the meantime, I must look after you and prevent you from getting into trouble." She said turning to face them again. She looked into Teal's eyes and gave a patient smile.

"Fine, but I'm keeping a close eye on you." Yang said cracking her knuckles.

* * *

"What about Weiss is important about this mission?" Steel asked in shock of the question.

"The answer will determine your overall performance in the upcoming assignment." Oriana said with nearly no emotion at all. This sent a brief shiver down Steel's back before coming back to the question.

"Well, Weiss wasn't the nicest of people, but she was still my friend." Steel said trying to rationalize his thoughts into words.

"What about her father?" Oriana asked again with zero emotion.

"I-I didn't really hear her talk to highly about him. Why do you ask?" Steel asked getting a little bit impatient.

"Here's the situation, our task is to stop the dust production of all Remnant." Oriana stood up out of her chair and looked out the window to the left of her overlooking the warehouse.

"And how are we going to do that?" Steel said adjusting himself in his seat.

Oriana gave a sigh and began to explain"Well, it's quite simple really, our objective is a kill/capture mission. Our targeted man would surely bring all production to a halt if we used this to threaten the Schnee Dust Company. Our primary target for this mission, is Weiss's father, the chairman of the SDC."

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _I like writing you know, it fills me with joy…. Until shit like this happens..._

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Aggressively feasting on the flesh of Spartan25798's arm and gorging on it's blood* ARM FOR THE ARM NOX!**

RedMoose: You know that you're getting blood everywhere.

 _Me: WHY CAN'T WE JUST TELL JOKES AND STUPID PUNS LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS?!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BECAUSE NOX DEMANDS ARMS!**

 _RedMoose:_ OK….. What's red and bad for your teeth?...answer down below…...

 _Me: Can I guess?_

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… A Brick.

 _RedMoose:_ I've got another one… What's white and black and red all over…. A panda with its heart torn out.

 _Me: I thought humanity after the RedMoose and rwbyfan5 Apocalypse…_

 _Blake:_ What are you guys doing? Yang seems like she's on high alert right now.

 _Me: Or right, that's why we don't tell jokes._

 _RedMoose:_ Maybe she smells the blood, or maybe Ruby smells the blood….. You know about her nasty habit right?

 _Me: Yeah, puns and really bad jokes._

 _RedMoose:_ No Ruby's habit of eating people.

 _Yang:_ *Walks into the room* What was that Spartan25798, RedMoose. Mind telling little old me what you were talking about before I punch you both into the sun?

RedMoose: Remember she attacked and tried to kill Velvet, was sent to a Prison camp, you shot her dead in the chest when her aura went out, can survive a gunshot to the head ..she eats people for sustenance... you know, Blood Rose things.

 _Me: Oh please, no timeline crossing with other stories… Other than Into the Glyph just a bit... Anyways, I'm leaving, I hope that you readers get to join us in the next chapter where things aren't so… Murdery..._ _ **JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW!**_ _There is a new pole on my profile, I'd like the readers to decide Oriana Marigold's weapon, it's only going to be up for a week, so vote now! I hope to see you all in the next chapter though. C U._


	25. Search and Pursuit

_**A.N.:**_ _Seems like a good chapter ahead, there is a nice blend of a lot of things, but I'm not telling what. Oh what could I, Spartan25798 have planned for this story?!_

 _RedMoose:_ You sound INCREDIBLY pretentious and EXTRAORDINARILY full of yourself in that statement.

 _Me: Maybe just a little pretentious, but come on man, there needs to be some suspense!_

 _RedMoose:_ The problem is you are referencing something or someone who is the most pompously flamboyant person I have ever met.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Have you not met Nox?**

 _Me: I'm not actually sure we've met in person… Or maybe that's just my bad memory._

 _RedMoose:_ FUCK YOU AND YOUR FUCKING ASS SALT MINE INDUCING SHIT! FUCK YOU DEAR READERS AND HAVE FUN.

 _Me: He meant to say, have fun reading the chapter all you wonderful readers._

* * *

 **Search and Pursuit**

* * *

"We're going after him? Why?" Steel asked confounded.

"It's quite simple really, if and when we capture him, we blackmail the S.D.C. About him. The next step is watch all of the main planets dust stop manufacturing." Oriana smiled.

Steel felt grief come over him, despite that, he still had a question about the mission"But you said that this is a kill/capture mission, right?"

Oriana gave Steel a glare and sighed"If we kill him, the S.D.C. will most likely stop production for a while. At least until the Heiress decides to take over the family business. This is the short term option. It is prefered if we keep him alive."

"I understand the objective, when do we move out." Steel said after taking a deep breath.

"You're taking this remarkably well." Oriana turned to him in surprise.

"Mentally I'm not. Look, we have an objective, and I'll see it through despite who it is." Steel said with a burst of confidence.

"I see, well, let's get ready to go then. Pack some of your things." Oriana sighed.

"Wait, we're leaving right now?" Steel asked in surprise.

"We'll be leaving when we confirm his location. Our scouts are on their way back as we speak, so be prepared." Oriana walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"Great, time to get packed up I guess." Steel said with a sigh. He turned toward the door opened it. He didn't want to hurt Weiss or his old friend anymore than he already had, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. It didn't matter anymore, he needed to focus on the road ahead, and he didn't have any room for failure.

* * *

Qrow and Cloud were in the CCT office discussing the events happening in Vale. The room looked identical to the previous one in Vale. The only difference being the blue color of the interior instead of the green.

"This is how many of my students are alive and well?" Cloud asked in a calm voice.

"I know that it's not everyone, there were losses on everyone's front. I know that doesn't make up for those students that didn't make it through." Qrow said sitting in the chair across from him.

"I see, and basing of records, that still leaves around twenty eight unaccounted students, at least." Cloud gave off a frown and sighed. He stood up, turned, and looked out the window of the tower.

"You know, those students that were with me had a friend. From what I've heard, they want to find him because of his help in the Vale attack. They also apparently have reason to believe that he's somewhere in Mistrial." Qrow sighed and took out his flask and twisted off the cap.

"So that's why they're here." Cloud sighed.

"Right. They agreed to come here as long as they could get your help. Otherwise they would just go searching around by themselves." Qrow smiled taking a sip.

"I see, well, once I resolve the current matter at hand. After that happens, I will gladly help out." Cloud turned away and sat back down in his seat.

"Thank you for that, I don't remember the last time I saw my nieces so down about something before. I really hope this will help them, so for that, I thank you." Qrow and Cloud locked eyes with one another. Qrow sighed and he got up from his seat.

"Thank you Qrow, for bringing me this information. This will let me sleep a little better at night, at least I hope it will. I will contact you, somehow, when I am ready to assist you." Cloud gave a soft smile. Qrow nodded, twisted the flask's cap back on and stood up.

" I'd better make sure those kids aren't getting into trouble." Qrow said walking toward the door.

"Alright. And Qrow." Cloud said stopping him.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Cloud stood up and turned to face the window.

"Just doing my job." Qrow sighed. " _Now, where would those kids be?"_

* * *

"So there's a warehouse in the middle of nowhere? Why? Didn't the people who built it know about the danger?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Apparently they did, but built it anyway." The teacher said.

"I forgot to ask your name." Teal pointed out.

"You can call me Ms. Sapphire." The teacher said and went back to her work

"Alright, good enough for me." Rusty smiled

"Now then, this warehouse is located north of the kingdom. I would help you more, but I believe that Mr. Branwen will be on his way back momentarily." She sighed.

"Thank you for your help. If we do not find him there, at least it's a start." Blake said calmly.

"Hey you kids, I've been looking for you. Cloud didn't really tell me where you'd be so I had to use my common sense." Qrow said walking into the room

"You have that? Man, I'm so relieved!" Yang half shouted happily.

"Not funny." Qrow glared

"But you literally walked into it though." Yang smiled.

"Oh really, and how did I do that?" Qrow asked bluntly keeping his glare pinned on Yang.

"By walking into the room of course! That's how you _walked_ into it." Yang smiled.

"One of these days, your puns are going to be your downfall Yang. You're lucky that I'm such a pushover when it comes to relatives." Qrow sighed.

"Yeah, thanks Qrow." Yang sighed.

"Did you guys dig anything up about his location?" Qrow asked with a sigh.

Blake stepped forward and began her small rant "Well, here's what we found out with help from Ms. Sapphire. First of all, the White Fang activity in this kingdom is extremely high, even more than Vale's rate. Secondly, there is an abandoned warehouse that is suspected to have a White Fang presence in it. We were going to wait for you to get back and then check it out for ourselves."

"Are you sure you're alright with this Blake? Last time we went to a warehouse, things didn't end on bright terms." Weiss asked.

"I'll be perfectly fine Weiss, you don't have to worry about me." Blake replied calmly.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Qrow asked turning out the door.

"I don't really know, oh! Thank you Ms. Sapphire." Ruby exclaimed.

"It was no trouble. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will attend to my duties." She said and walked passed Qrow and out the door.

"Okay, if we're going into the swamp, let's go. I mean _Water_ we waiting for?" Yang chuckled.

"Yang Xiao Long. So help me I will send you flying into the air and you'll need an infinite amount of luck if you'll ever want to land ever again." Qrow glared menacingly.

"Okay, that's terrifying." Yang said backing away slowly.

"Come on, let's go." Mag said walking out the door.

"What's up with her?" Rusty asked. Everyone ignored him and began filing out the door to follow her. As they did, Mag stopped suddenly and took a step back.

"Mag? What's wrong?" Blake asked coming up behind her.

"I-I d-don't know." Something just feels, I don't know how to explain it. Familiar?" She said questioning herself. She gave herself a slight shake and put on a smile. She took a deep breath and continued walking.

* * *

"And you're sure you have everything you need?" Oriana asked. She was carrying a light backpack and was wearing the same outfit as she was the day Steel and her met.

"Well, aside from my kitchen sink, but I think I'll be fine." Steel smiled.

"Remember you two, we're dropping you on the shore's of Atlas. After that we're heading back for a couple of days. My guess is that you will have two weeks to get there, infiltrate, and get back." Adam said as he walked up to them.

"We know, you don't have to tell me over and over, once is fine. Besides, it's not like it's my first job like this." Oriana glared.

"I know." Adam snapped causing her to take a step back. "However, this is his first assignment, and it's very important that he knows what to do."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Steel smiled.

"Do yourself a favour and come back in one piece." Adam turned away from them and walked away.

"Don't worry about him, he's always like that." Oriana smiled and stepped onto the airship. Steel followed close behind and sat down on the floor due to the lack of seats in the back.

"We're ready! Let's get this bird in the air already!" Oriana commanded to the pilot in the front seat. He gave a thumbs up and the purr of the engines started.

" _So, my first field mission other than Beacon. I'm kind of excited."_ Steel smiled as he thought.

"I got that feeling on my first mission too. I don't think that the feeling ever goes away actually." Oriana smiled as she walked over and sat down beside him.

"Can you read minds or something?" Steel asked in surprise.

"Nope, I'm just good at reading emotions based on appearance. Speaking of which, I wanted to talk to you about something." Oriana's face went from happy to serious in a heartbeat and she turned her head away from him.

"Okay, shoot." Steel shrugged.

"I could tell that you weren't fine with the mission when I told you about it. Now however, you seem more calm about it." Oriana sighed.

"Well, I wasn't in the beginning. But when I went to go pack, I thought of something. I'm probably never going to see Weiss or any of them again anyways. Because of that, I can't really feel guilt for doing this." Steel said forcing a smile.

"I know that it must have been hard to do that to your friends. You know, you're interesting. You worry about this kind of thing, up until you actually have to do it. Then it's like nothing was ever worrying you beforehand." Oriana said.

"That's just the way I am." Steel said putting a real smile across his face.

"Okay, well, when we land, we'll take more about this." Oriana said. The rest of the flight was on absolute silence. The only sound was the constant purr of the airships engines.

* * *

"Alright, we're off." Rusty said as they approached the kingdom's gate.

"Well be ready, once we pass this gate, there might be no coming back." Qrow said putting an odd smile across his face.

"You're right Qrow, let's just call it a day and head home. Any objections? Alright let's go." Rusty said turning toward the city. He began to walk, but as he began to pass by Mag, she held her arm out quickly and close lined Rusty, in the stomach. Rusty fell backwards and onto his back as he groaned in agony.

"You're not going anywhere." Mag glared as she helped him onto his feet again.

"Why?" Rusty groaned as he got up.

That could have been worse Rusty." Mag glared again.

"How, I got the wind knocked out of me, and it feels like I almost broke my tailbone. So please tell me how it could be worse." Rusty complained.

"It could have been Yang to hit you." Mag smiled.

"Valid point." Rusty nodded.

"Now then, if there are any more problems, please, speak your mind now." Qrow said sounding slightly pissed off.

"If I weren't his niece, I'd say everything wrong right now. However, since I know Qrow, I can tell when he's getting pissed off, and when he's exaggerating. Here my advice for the situation. Let's get going, now." Yang said gazing off onto the horizon.

"She's right, we're burning sunshine here." Teal nodded in agreement.

"Then let's get going already!" Qrow shouted.

"Okay, there's no need to shout." Rusty said defensively.

"Hey kid remember when I told you I could throw you out of a plane?" Qrow said walking up to Rusty.

"Y-yeah, why?" Rusty said backing away slowly.

"Let's just say I don't need an airship to make you drop from that height. Now can we get going?" Qrow turned his back to the the quivering Rusty. Nobody argued and they walked off into the deep swamps woods.

The trip there was actually quite short. On the way, nobody said a single word because of Qrow's gaze looming over all of them. Eventually, they came across a hillside that led out of the swampy area and onto dry land. The group climbed the surprisingly steep hill and were not disappointed doing so. On top of the hill was a large abandoned warehouse; the place that they had set out to find in the first place.

"Well, show me what you kids can do. Make sure there are no Grimm inside, alright." Qrow said sitting down and taking his sheathed sword off his lower back.

"While you do?" Ruby asked calmly.

"Someone needs to watch our back." Qrow said lying down on his back.

"Alright, as leader for team RWBY, I will lead this mission." Ruby smiled holding a fist closely in front of her chest.

"What's the call then?" Blake asked unsheathing the katana piece of Gambol Shroud.

"Teal, do a scan of the structure." Ruby said putting on a straight face.

"Right." Teal's body started glowing from his semblance being used. His head moved from left to right as he checked the interior of the warehouse for lifeforms. The aura around Teal's body subdued and he opened his eyes. He looked Ruby's way and gave a quick nod.

"There are?" Ruby whispered. Teal sighed and nodded again.

"Okay, Mag, Blake, can you get in there undetected and do a recon for us? Find us the best route possible." Ruby whispered. The two girls looked at each other and nodded. Mag took Blake's hand and the two vanished instantly.

"Yang, Rusty, keep tabs on that door, if it's not one of those two coming out, attack." Ruby said finding more and more confidence in her words.

"Got it." Yang smiled, and the two walked up to the door and stood on either side of it.

"What about us?" Weiss asked taking Myrtenaster off her belt.

"Us, we wait, take a quick breather." Ruby said nodding. Weiss let out a deep sigh and sat down farther back behind Ruby. Teal walked up to her and sat down beside her.

"What are we even doing here?" Weiss asked calmly.

"What do you mean?" Teal asked with a soft smile to follow.

"I mean why are we looking for a person that's betrayed us aside from answers." Weiss said burying her face into her palms.

"He's our friend." Teal sighed.

"And you trust him after what he did to Blake and Magenta?" Weiss raised her head up and looked him square in the eyes.

"I don't trust him, no. However, he's my friend, and I think that everyone deserves to let them explain themselves and a second chance." Teal replied calmly.

"I don't, especially since he's one of them." Weiss turned her head away from Teal's and scowled.

"I've noticed that you don't particularly like faunus or the White Fang, is there a reason for that?" Teal asked while being entirely serene.

"Well, when you and your family members have been hunted by White Fang faunus assassins for your entire life, that's when you will be able to understand my trust issues." Weiss angrily said but put on a happy looking face.

"Oh, I-I, I'm sorry Weiss, I didn't know." Teal said quietly..

"It's alright, you didn't know. But at least you know the reason for me not trusting faunus." Weiss sighed.

"True, however most faunus aren't like that." Teal said trying to lighten her mood a bit.

"Really? Well the two faunas that have become my 'friends' both were in the White Fang. I'm two for two right now." Weiss clenched her fists together and closed her eyes tightly.

"Look Weiss, I won't pretend to know how you feel about your family, but give the faunus a chance. I'm sure you won't regret it." Teal looked at the heiress start to calm down and her body start to relax a bit more. Weiss didn't reply and she got onto her feet. She looked down at Teal and he glimpsed a tiny tear trickle down her cheek, then she turned and walked away from him.

" _Great, I hope that didn't damage our friendship at all."_ Teal thought to himself.

Teal looked around the area a bit without moving from his spot. Not to long after, Mag and Blake popped out of the building using Mag's teleportation. Teal got up and half sprinted over to meet them.

"Find them?" Teal asked.

"Yeah, it's locked down like a kingdom in there." Blake sighed.

"I'm pretty sure that we were detected in that scouting run though." Mag added taking a deep breath to follow.

"I smell a trap." Blake said taking a look around the area again.

"What do we do then?" Teal asked trying to stay calm.

"I say that we spring it." Blake said putting a mischievous smile across her face.

"I don't know about that. It seems kind of fishy to me." Mag put a blank look on her face and sighed. Blake glared at Mag for her poor choice of words but it flew right over her head.

"Hey, Ruby, come over here for a minute." Teal said while he waved her over.

"Ah you're back, how does it look in there?" Ruby asked running over to them.

"It's probably a trap in there." Blake smiled.

"That's problematic." Ruby said putting herself into deep thought.

"We have an idea to spring it, but that could be risky." Mag sighed.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"Simple." Blake smiled. She looked over Ruby's shoulder to the two door guards, Rusty and Yang and gave a chuckle.

"Oh, you're good at this." Mag smiled.

* * *

"We'll be arriving in half an hour." The pilot said after opening the door to the cockpit.

"Alright. Thanks for the update." She said quietly.

"You might as well get ready then." The pilot sighed closing the door again.

"Good idea, Steel, I'm going to change." Oriana said taking out an outfit from inside her bag.

"Uh, okay. Is there somewhere else I can go?"Steel asked taking a quick look around the ship.

"There's probably no room in the cockpit, so, just don't peek I guess. Trust me, I'll know if you do." Oriana said giving him a sly wink.

"W-w-wh-at? I don't r-really know how to respond to this." Steel said in shock.

"Fine, I'll explain it better. You turn and face that wall of the ship, and don't turn around until I tell you to. Easy right? Oriana smiled.

"A-alright." Steel turned his back to her and closed his eyes to resist any temptation he might have.

"Seriously, don't turn around, or you're going to have a bad time." Oriana whispered into his ear putting shivers on Steel's back. He nodded slowly and stood completely still. Steel herd movements of clothing and shuffling behind him, but he continued to keep his eyes shut and not look at Oriana.

"Alright, I'm fine now." Oriana said tapping Steel on the shoulder causing him to jump slightly.

"Oh, okay." Steel said turning around slowly.

"By the way, leave your armor on the ship, I know it's going to feel weird without it, but it's going to make too much noise." Oriana said pulling on one of the straps to his chestplate.

"Then what was all that training with moving quietly with armor on?" Steel asked with a glare wiped across his face.

"That was to make it five times easier when we do the actual mission. If you keep the same mindset when wearing armor and move like you still have it on, you'll be a lot harder to detect because you'll be more conscious about it." Oriana explained in detail that Steel easily understood.

"Okay, next question. Why didn't you change at base and not make this feel really awkward?" Steel said glaring at her again.

"That was a test of trust." Oriana smiled.

"What?" Steel asked and backed away in surprise.

"I'm not going into a mission without trusting that you'll listen to me. Since I know you didn't look back, I know I can trust you to follow my lead." Oriana let a smug smile slide across her face as Steel went from mad to confused.

"I don't really get that, but alright." Steel said in confusion.

"Look, we've been testing you since you got here, and you passed all of the tests with flying colors. I'm actually quite impressed." Oriana was dead serious when she said that, and Steel didn't know how to react to it.

"I, um, uh, thanks, I guess." Steel turned away from her gaze and scratched the back of his head. He didn't say anything more to her concern.

"I know that you've been through a lot, but, I'm proud of you for coming so far in such a short time.." Oriana leaned over to meet Steel's gaze which was looking at the ground.

"Thanks." Steel mumbled.

"Come on, cheer up a bit, we shouldn't focus on the past, so we can stay focused on the future and the present." Oriana's gaze went sharp and Steel gave out a sigh.

"I guess you're right, what's the worst thing that could happen right?" Steel shrugged.

"That's the spirit!" Oriana said clenching her fists together triumphantly.

"Let's do this!" Steel said as a smile crept its way onto his face. Although the smile was there, it wasn't a very happy smile, no, it was the smile of regret.

* * *

"This sounds like fun." Yang said giddily.

"Why do we have to be the bait to spring a trap though?" Rusty sighed.

"Cheer up already, we need to sell this, or we're kind of screwed." Yang said. They walked up to the door and Yang gave a knock.

No response.

Yang tried knocking again but to no avail. She peaked inside the window to find nothing but what looked like endless rows of shipping containers.

"Let's just go inside, if nobody's here, it's not like were trespassing or anything." Yang said a little louder than her normal tone so that people inside could hear her.

"Sure, I, um, I just don't like the idea of this." Rusty said making his speech a little louder as well.

"We'll be fine, nobody's here." Yang said and opened the door. There was a smell of rotting that instantly filled their nostrils making Yang cringe a bit.

"Hello!" Rusty called out.

"Is anyone here? We knocked so we're coming inside." Yang shouted into the dark room ahead.

"Where is everyone?" Yang said while stopping to scratch the back of her head.

"I don't know. I guess we can set up camp in here at least." Rusty said.

"Fine, but I want my own tent this time." Yang said giving out a small chuckle.

"What?" Rusty groaned.

"Stop playing stupid you two!" A voice said coming from behind a Rusty and Yang looked at each other quickly and checked the long hall of shipping crates again.

"Is someone there?" Yang asked. The voice was definitely familiar, but both teens couldn't figure out where they had heard the voice before. There was a noise of someone falling behind them.

"Come on you two, we're pals right?" It was a man's voice definitely. They both turned to see a clocked person crouched down in front of them.

"You know, I have to admit, I didn't think you'd find this place so quickly." Another voice said from behind them. They both turned to check, but the shadows concealed any movement to the eye.

"I've met you two before." The cloaked man said standing up.

"And who might you be?" Yang asked sarcastically.

"I guess we've never truly spoken before." He said stepping out of the shadows. As he did, both teens tensed up as the man was smiling.

"No, I guess we haven't?" Yang said sounding confused.

"Then allow us to introduce ourselves." The man said reaching for his hood.

"Okay, please do." Yang bounced impatiently while Rusty reached for his weapon.

"I am Adam Taurus, and my division of the White Fang!" He said raising his arms. Suddenly, the crates burst open around them and about forty to fifty men surrounded them.

"Okay, now I remember you. You were the one who tried to capture Blake!" Rusty said raising his voice almost to a shout.

"But you and your friends don't want her to have an honorable death, so now, we shall just slaughter her." Adam grinned.

"Well, I think that now is a good time to leave." Yang said backing away slowly. Rusty followed her movements until their backs were against a wall.

"Since you don't want your friend to die, why don't we kill you along with her? That way, you and your friends hiding up above the catwalk can all go into the afterlife together." Said a man walking up behind Adam.

"You! You tried to hurt my sister!" Yang shouted extending Ember Celica.

"You can come down now, or try to escape." He smiled.

"You're Roman Torchwick, for hurting my sister, I will stop you." Yang glared and raised her fists up to meet her face.

"Let's get this over with already. Open fire!" Adam shouted. Yang felt a hand pull her backwards and she fell onto the ground. There was a light blue human sized barrier in front of Yang protecting her.

"Rusty?" Yang looked up in surprise.

"Think of a way we can get out of here without endangering the rest of the team. I don't know how long I can keep this shield up, so make it fast!" Rusty said adjusting his body to intercept the incoming dust rounds.

"Mag can just teleport us! Right Mag?" Yang shouted to the roof.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder and another on Rusty's. There was a flash and suddenly, they were outside.

"I told you that they knew Blake, I told you!" Mag shouted. The rest of the group; excluding Qrow, ran up to meet them

"We need to get out of here." Rusty said trying to remain calm, and failing quite badly at it as well.

"Oh come now, why would you all leave when we've set up such a nice party?" A woman's voice said from behind them.

"What's with all of the people sneaking up on us and acting like their total creeps!?" Yang shouted.

"Hold that thought, because we're here too." Roman said running out of the building at full speed. The group of seven teens readied themselves and their weapons and stood in a circle.

"I see, so you wish to fight, hmm?" The woman put her index finger on her forehead and tapped it lightly. She smiled suddenly and opened her eyes swiftly.

"So then, champions of Beacon academy, this is what you've trained for. As it is our duty to fight you, then we shall." She smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked putting a confused look on her face.

"I, along with my partners, shall strike you all down. I, Cinder Fall, accept your challenge."

* * *

 _ **A.N:**_ _See, didn't that come together nicely?_

RedMoose: FUCK YOU STILL! I AM NOT CALM!, UNDERTALE IS SHIT AND FUCK ALL THAT SHIT! :)

 _Me: RedMoose, why would you mention an entirely different topic in this story? Also, that was kind of a random outburst._

 _ **REDMOOSE: SALT!**_

 _Me: Well, if that's what you like, then I won't judge. This is just as a side note, the voting was a success!_

 _RedMoose:_ FUCK VOTING!

 _Me: He's pissed because his weapon design didn't win. Anyways, we hope to see you in the next chapter._


	26. Fights? Again? Really?

_**A.N.:**_ _I've been doing my best to get these out within a week of each other. Due to that schedule, I feel like my work could be doing a little better. To compensate with this, uploads might be coming out a bit slower than usual so that you all get my better quality of work._

Blake: Aww, I'll miss the one chapter a week release schedule.

Me: _I'm not sure if some people even noticed or not, to tell you the truth._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **I noticed. As did Nox. Nox notices everything.**

 _Me: I'm pretty sure that if you edit the story and to the AN's, it doesn't really count._

 _Rusty:_ Where's RedMoose, I like hearing that guy talk almost as much as you talking like an idiot.

 _RedMoose_ : APPLY COLD WATER TO A BURNT AREA!... I was FEASTING ON CAKE thank you very little!

 _Me: Say the devil's name and he shall appear. Shall we just get to the point?_

* * *

 **Fights? Again? Really?**

* * *

"Prepare yourselves everyone!" Cinder smiled as her power formed into fire that burned around her eyes.

"What are you?" Mag asked, trembling in fear.

"I am one of the Seasonal Maidens. And now, because of this, I am a hero." Cinder closed her eyes and took a breath.

"No!" Ruby shouted in an outburst before realising her mistake and backing off a little.

"Ruby?" Yang asked in surprise.

"Oh? And how am I not a hero? Please, do explain." Cinder held out her hand and a small fire appeared in the palm.

"W-well, a hero is someone who will fight for what is right, and a person who protects people. It's not their power that makes them a hero, it's what they use that power for. I think that if you wanted to be a hero, you just need to be honest and good." Ruby said shyly

"Well, you may be right, but nobody can argue with me if their dead." Cinder smiled and held up her hand, pointing it at Ruby.

Her hand closed briefly, but when she opened her hand up again, a flame burst. The attack hit Ruby square in the chest and sent her flying backwards.

"Ruby!" Yang sent herself running toward her sister and helped her up off of her back.

"Y-yang. I'm s-so-rry." Ruby wheezed. She looked over to see the rest of her friends running up to help her.

"Ruby, are you okay?!" Yang said in a panic.

"I-I don't feel so hot." Ruby chuckled slightly.

"Did that hurt you?" Yang asked trying to calm down a bit.

"My chest hurts, a lot." Ruby said.

"You see now, this is what will happen to those who get in my way." Cinder glared at the blonde holding Ruby in her arms.

"Mag, make sure Ruby's alright." Yang glared back with burning red eyes.

"What are you going too-."

"Just make sure she's alright." Yang clenched her fists together and stared at Cinder.

"Well, it's not fair if you get a team against me, so I'll just ask my team to help as well." Cinder smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Teal asked.

"We will be your opponents, whether you like it or not. I'll leave that up to you to decide." Cinder began to levitate above the ground as fire spewed out of her eyes. Her teammates fell in behind her and she readied her bow and arrows.

"Could we start this already? I could use a workout." Torchwick asked leaning on his cane.

"Then our team, led by my sister Ruby R-" Yang started.

"Oh believe me Yang, we already know all of your names." Cinder said cutting Yang off.

"H-how do you know my name?" Yang asked keeping her feet firmly planted in the ground.

"Oh, your friend, what was his name again? It seems to have slipped my mind." Cinder held onto her chin and fought back the smile spreading across her face.

"Steel? Where is he?!" Rusty demanded walking up beside Yang.

"Oh, that's right. He's on a mission right now, I believe. Adam, care to tell them the objective of the mission?" Cinder rolled her eyes and looked at the red haired bull faunus.

"If you're referring to the mission that I sent Oriana and Steel on, the objective was to capture an H.V.T. of the Schnee Dust Company." Adam said showing zero emotion in his words.

"What?" Weiss stepped forward in surprise.

"You heard me." Adam said. Even though his eyes were behind his mask, Weiss could tell that he had narrowed his gaze onto her in a glaring form.

"You White Fang, you need to stop hurting my family!" Weiss scowled pointing Myrtenaster at Adam.

"Just try and stop us, you're free to try here." Adam smirked.

"Oh trust me, I will!" Weiss said putting a glyph at her feet and prepared to bound off of it. She glared and readied herself to spring off of the large glyph behind her.

* * *

"Well so much for the mission, turning back due to extreme wind speeds, mixed with heavy frost warning. That's fucking bullshit!" Oriana scowled at the ground.

"It's fine, we'll just have to report it to Adam." Steel said sounding annoyed.

"How many times are you going to say that? We've been flying back for what feels like forever, so why do you keep saying that?" Oriana scowled.

"I just want to keep a good mood about me now, I can't let the situation get the better of me." Steel said confidently,

"That's not what you were saying a few hours ago." Orina glared.

"Now that's not fair, you just, you know what, never mind." Steel said turning his back.

"Look, it's not good for teammates to argue, so, I'm sorry." Oriana sighed.

"Okay, and, I'm sorry too." Steel said calmly. Steel shook the thought of his old teammates from his head and refocused on what was going on

"Hey, you two back there, wake up. We have a situation down there, it looks like there are some kids are at the warehouse and we're moving to assist." The copilot said, as he did, the airship began to tilt to the right and descend.

"Get your axe ready, we're going in." Oriana said.

"Speaking of weapons, what is yours?" Steel asked looking around for Axe Gevar.

"Oh, my weapons are these gauntlets, they're string based and fire these grapple hooks. Word of advice though, don't touch the string, it's sharper than a brand new blade." Oriana warned

"That's pretty cool." Steel nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." Oriana exhaled deeply. She looked down at the standoff below and began observing the area.

"What's the situation?" Steel asked calmly.

"Unidentified and probably hostile targets down below. Count, seven. Weapons, yes. Drawn weapons, also a yes." Oriana reported as she gazed over the scene.

"What was the count again?" Steel asked in a small panic.

"Seven, why do you-" Oriana started before Steel pushed her aside.

"You've got to be kidding me right now." Steel said in horror.

"I could say the same to you, but I'll ask the you take your hand off of my chest first of all." Oriana's tone dropped as she said those last couple words. Steel turned to her with a questioning expression before he checked to see where his hand was.

" _I've watched too much TV, there's no way that this actually just happened."_ Steel thought. He looked down at his hand and his eyes went wide. He pulled his hand away quickly.

"Uh, I, umm, s-sorry." Steel stuttered while backing away in fear.

"It's fine, whatever, I think our side needs some reinforcements though, wouldn't you agree?" Oriana's expression went from cold killer to calm and relaxed in an instant as she looked down at the group below.

"Dropping you two off at the warehouse." The pilot shouted. Oriana opened the doors to the airship and looked down to get a better view.

"Do a fly-by, we'll jump when you get low enough! Hey Steel, now would be a good time to equip your armor." Oriana said putting one of her gauntlets in front of her face.

"Got it on already, let's go." Steel sighed. He realised she couldn't hear him and gave a thumbs up in place of what he'd said.

"On my mark, you jump!" The pilot shouted.

"Five second heads up!" Oriana replied.

"Roger,

"Five!" Both of them walked up to the door and looked down

"Four!" Steel took a deep breath while Oriana kept scanning the area down below

"Three!"

"Get ready to jump!" Oriana said with a smiled spread wide across her face.

"Two!" Steel readied himself to jump and took another quick breath

"One!" Both gazes tightened as they waited for the go.

"Jump!" Both Oriana and Steel launched themselves out of the airship and stuck the landing behind Cinder and the rest of their group.

"Well, I stand corrected, looks like he's right here in front of your eyes." Adam smiled smugly.

"S-Steel?" Blake asked in a questioning tone.

"You bastard!" Rusty shouted as his eyes swirled with rage.

"Hey Rusty, it's been awhile." Steel said with a fake confidence in his voice, despite that, he couldn't look any of his former friends straight in the eye without turning away swiftly.

"Don't give me that! Why the hell did you do it you god damn backstabber?!" Rusty shouted again and Steel's eyes closed. Mag had helped Ruby back onto her feet and now all seven of them were standing in a line, all with weapons drawn.

"So these are those pitiful excuses of friends that you told me about." Oriana said calmly.

"I never said that." Steel whispered.

"I don't know who you are, but you had better watch your mouth if you know what's good for you!" Yang shouted.

"I know tensions are really high right now, but could we all just calm down a bit." Steel said trying to calm down himself. Blake stepped forward and locked eyes with Steel sending a shiver down Steel's spine. She took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Steel,if my theory is correct, I know that you're not wanting to be standing with them, I know you don't want to fight us. Even after everything you've done to hurt us, your old school, your old friends, me. I just want to say that I forgive you." Her words sounded calm and caring, right from the bottom of her heart. Steel felt a grin slide onto his face as he heard her soothing words echo in his head.

"Aww, that's so sweet. Hey! Weren't we about to fight or something?" Torchwick piped up.

"So we were, now then, we will do this tournament style. One versus one." Cinder agreed.

"Why should we listen to your rules?" Rusty scoffed.

"First of all, we outnumber you, second of all, we overpower you, and third, we're smarter." Adam answered bluntly.

"Now then, we shall play by our rules." Cinder said as a grin appeared on her face.

"What do we do? Even if we run, they'll catch us and probably kill us anyway." Yang whispered.

"You're probably right Yang, besides, I want to give Steel a piece of my mind." Rusty spoke at the same tone but glared at the Faunus boy across from them.

"We accept then!" Teal said formally extending his sword.

"Good." Cinder dropped from the air onto her feet and took a sword in each hand.

"Who will you send out first then?" Torchwick asked.

"I'll go first, I need to vent some rage." Yang said stepping forward.

"In that case, Neo, if you would." The girl smiled up at Torchwick and walked forward as well, twirling her umbrella as she walked.

"Look, I don't really care who you are exactly, but could we just get this over with as quickly as possible?" Yang sighed obnoxiously. Neo looked Yang in the eyes and gave a smug grin.

"Go!" Cinder shouted.

Without hesitation, Yang took her gauntlet and batted at Neo's head, only for a mirror image of her to shatter before Yang's eyes. Yang looked around quickly to try and find her but had almost no luck. Suddenly, a glimmer appeared behind her catching her eye. Yang felt something hit her foot and it swept her off of her feet. Yang looked again, but could only feel her rage building more as she was unable to locate Neo.

Yang got up onto her feet and saw Neo standing in front of her just twirling her umbrella. Yang's eyes were now burning bright red. She sprinted at full speed toward Neo, only to have Neo deploy her umbrella and have her attack bounce off, making Yang step back to balance herself. Yang countered by firing two shotgun shells toward Neo's umbrella, only for them to burst into flame when they made contact with the umbrella and leave no effect on Neo at all. She fired a few more only for them to have the same effect and felt her rage building more and more. Neo lowered her umbrella and smiled gleefully.

Yang took a deep breath and ran at Neo again. She tried an uppercut, only for Neo to grab onto her arm, twirl off of it, land on Yang's shoulders, and launch herself off. Yang tried tracking her in the air but lost her in the glare of the sunlight. Neo slammed her feet into Yang's chest as she landed setting Yang to the floor. Yang shouted in pain as she felt her aura begin to break. Neo looked down to notice that her aura was still intact, and stepped off for a brief moment. She loomed over Yang and smiled as she kicked Yang in the head. Yang's aura shattered and Neo gave a bow toward the teen's group. She hopped away from Yang and skipped happily back to her side.

"Excellent job, I can always count on you." Cinder smiled slightly. Neo turned to her and beamed her way. She then skipped back to Torchwick and began to twirl her umbrella again.

"Hey, you're not supposed to deplete the target's aura level completely!" Teal shouted in protest.

"What? Oh, you must have meant the official tournament rules. In our tournament, you deplete the aura as far as you want to." Cinder shrugged.

"What kind of rules are those? Did you just make them up?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, people could get seriously hurt, or even killed like that!" Ruby said in agreement.

"That's the rules you agreed to, besides, if you backed out now, that would be an insult to our team. We wouldn't want to do that now would we?" Cinder said calmly.

"Yang? Are you okay?" Ruby asked wide eyed. Yang's arm twitched and she gave a thumbs up. Ruby dashed over to help her sister and brought her onto her feet.

"Now then, who's next?" Roman asked.

"I will." Rusty said glaring at the opponents across from him.

"Hey, Neo, I have a question for you." Torchwick said looking down at her as she looked up at him excitedly. "Are you up for a team round?" Neo nodded excitedly, despite just having a fight with Yang about a minute ago.

"What? Two against one? That hardly seems fair, Roman." Cinder said calmly.

"If it's a team battle, then I'm in. Besides, it's been too long since we kicked some ass together." Teal said extending his sword.

"You can say that again." Rusty smiled excitedly.

"Alright, a two versus two round then. Interesting." Cinder grinned.

"I just have one question, you obviously could beat us at any time, so why draw it out more than you need to." Teal asked bravely.

"All you need to know, is that _She_ want's to see what Ozpin's guardians are made of. So, we shall test your skills here, now, and if you survive, in the future.." Cinder glared menacingly.

"And if this is just a test of our skill, why risk our lives?" Teal questioned.

"I did say Ozpin's guardians, I never specified you and your group." Cinder replied with a sly grin. She stepped back and let Torchwick and Neo take the floor. Both boys glanced at each other, nodded, and refocused on their two opponents in front of them.

"Begin when you're ready." Cinder said calmly.

"Do you have a plan?" Rusty asked allowing the blade of his weapon to turn away from the gun barrels. He held his weapon and a dagger now and put himself in a combat ready stance.

"When don't I?" Teal stopped for a moment before adding onto his comment" That is when it's just us two." He said giving Rusty a smile.

"What do I do?" Rusty asked as a grin slid onto his face.

"Keep the candy cane distracted, and keep his back to , I'd like some ice cream today." Teal smiled back. They both readied themselves defensively, and calmed their senses.

Neo skipped up to the two boys and smiled. Before they could do anything, Neo's smile turned into an evil grin. Rusty punched at Neo, only to have a mirror image of her break into tiny pieces. Teal closed his eyes for a brief moment. He pointed his weapon into the air and the tips of his blade folder over to reveal two gun barrels at the end of the weapon. He fired into the air, suddenly, there was a tiny squeek of pain, and Neo came crashing down from the sky.

"Surprise!" Torchwick said about to hit Teal with the end of his cane. Before he could, Rusty jumped in the way and activated his semblance. A light blue shield formed from the edge of his hand and Torchwick's attack went ricocheting off, and knocking Torchwick off balance.

"Sorry, wasn't really surprised that much." Teal said in a taunting tone. Roman turned and glared at Teal. Torchwick sprinted to get his cane from the ground as soon as he saw it, but Rusty was a step ahead of him. He fired three consecutive bursts of dust rounds toward his cane's location. All of the shots nailed Roman as he turned around, but he was quick to respond. Roman fired a few rounds toward Rusty. The rounds were shot at him from separate angles making them extremely hard to dodge under and block with. Rusty ducked under two of the shots and turned to face another one to block it with his semblance. Torchwick had launched another shot afterward and it nailed Rusty in the back of the head. Rusty face planted onto the ground and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oww, son of an eight bit game!" Rusty got onto his feet and glared at Torchwick.

"Rusty, are you okay?" Teal asked glancing back at him as Neo's umbrella whizzed past his face.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine, focus on your own fight!" Rusty shouted back at him. Teal closed his eyes and looked away for a split second.

"Got it." Teal said deflecting Neo's umbrella downward with his weapon just before it hit him. Teal looked back and swung his blade in Neo's direction. The action was met in vain as all he cut through was the air where she supposedly once stood. Neo had jumped backwards and performed a handspring to get back into a solid footing. She looked at him curiously before giving Teal a smile.

"This encounter isn't a fight is it? No, it can't really be a fight if you can't hit your opponent, and they can't hit you." Teal sighed causing Neo to chuckle a bit.

"Here's question for you, I have a plan, do you?" Teal smiled ominously. Neo's smiled faded and she prepared to fight him once again with a more serious look spread across her face.

"Alright, let's swing." Teal sighed. He retracted the blade to turn the sword into it's pistol form and fired at the girl. Neo reacted quickly by extending her umbrella outward and used it as a shield to block the incoming fire just as she had in the fight against Yang.. Teal kept firing and began strafing to the left. Neo held up her umbrella to keep blocking the shots as they came. Teal stopped strafing suddenly but kept up his steady fire. Teal stopped firing for a moment to reload and checked behind Neo to see how Rusty was holding up. He had just flipped over Torchwick and was about to shoot him in the back. Teal raised his loaded weapon and Neo ducked behind her umbrella again. He strafed to the right this time, although, he had a different target in mind. He fired past Neo to her surprise and hit Torchwick in the back. Rusty took the hint and began firing at Neo landing some solid shots before she could block the attacks.

Both sides decided to regroup with each other and ran to their teammates. Teal looked over at Rusty who was clutching his stomach in pain. Rusty saw the curiosity on Teal's face and waved of the suspicion of pain. Rusty and Teal readied themselves again. To check their aura levels, Teal briefly pulled out his scroll. Rusty was well under half and almost out entirely.

"Shit." Teal whispered to himself. He looked up at his opponents and extended his blade.

"Oh I am just having the time of my life right now!" Torchwick said extending his arms outward.

"Yeah, ain't we just." Rusty sighed.

"What's the matter kiddo? You getting tired already? If that's the case, you should workout more. It's probably why you can't get the attention of any ladies." Torchwick mocked. Rusty retaliated quickly by firing three bursts at Torchwick, only for Neo and her parasol to block them.

"Damn you!." Rusty growled.

"Easy, just try to take him out, I'll stall for time, then we take out the girl." Teal said in a tone that only Rusty could hear.

"What's even the point, we're all screwed anyway." Rusty sighed.

"Well, we don't really have another choice at this point." Teal replied calmly.

"Hey, are you two done talking? Or is there some action you two need to discuss in private?" Torchwick said bluntly.

"Alright, that's it!" Rusty shouted, ready to launch himself at Roman.

"Go!" Teal shouted. Both he and Rusty rushed their opponents at full speed slightly taking Torchwick by surprise. He began bombarding the area in front of him with explosive rounds fire, hoping to hit one of the teens. However, with Teal's speed, and Rusty's shield semblance, he couldn't land a single hit. Rusty rushed at him with the blade of his weapon and he gave a chuckle.

"You know kid, that didn't exactly work out for you last time, why try again?" Torchwick said swinging at Rusty. Their weapons clashed and they held their ground against each other. Rusty leaped into the air to get behind Torchwick. Roman smiled and turned to intercept Rusty

"Hope this works." Rusty mumbled. He activated his semblance. Using his side of the shield, he placed his feet onto the energy and hopped backwards off of it. He landed where he was before, although, it was behind Torchwick this time. He slashed at Torchwick's back while he had the edge bringing Torchwick's aura down a bit. Roman turned to block the second attack.

"Shit! Rusty, heads up!" Teal shouted. Rusty looked over to see Neo running toward him. Rusty bashed Torchwick with the blunt of his blade and swung the blade at Neo as she got in range, only for her image to shatter into glass shards. Rusty felt the side of Neo's umbrella nail him in the head and send him stepping to the side. Rusty gave a sigh as felt his aura all but leave him, he was basically unprotected now. He heard a laugh and turned to the sound only for Torchwick to suddenly fire a round toward him. Rusty tried to get out of the way, but the round singed the right side of his face. Rusty cried out as his aura level dropped to zero and he felt a burning sensation on his face.

"Rusty!" Teal shouted. Rusty felt himself go limp as he fell to the floor in exhaustion. Teal ran up to his partner and turned him onto his back.

"Damn it! We forfeit!"Teal shouted examining Rusty's face. "Oh god. This is all my fault." Teal said as a tear rolled down his face. The shot Roman fired had not only completely depleted his aura, but it had also severely burned the right side of Rusty's face near his eye.

"I guess we win then? Aww, and I was having fun too." Torchwick shrugged while Neo smiled playfully.

"Rusty!" Mag shouted appearing to his left . She knelt down and examined the damage.

"You might not want to see this." Teal said turning the burnt part of Rusty's face out of her view. She gave him a questioning look of worry. Teal took a deep breath and looked Mag in the eye.

"I couldn't see what happened exactly, so tell me." Mag said in worry. At this point, team RWBY had also gathered around Rusty. Teal glanced around quickly, but his vision refocused on Mag

"It's my fault, that she-devil got passed me and then she took out Rusty's aura level almost completely. Torchwick fired a round at Rusty and with his aura where it was, it sindged the side of his face causing a really bad burn." Teal explained trying to stay calm.

"You really need to stop doing that you know." Rusty said in pain catching them both by surprise.

"Rusty? What are you talking about?" Teal asked.

"Stop blaming yourself, you slipped up, it was an accident, neither of us was at fault you moron." Rusty chuckled. Teal smiled but avoided his gaze.

"Let's get him off this field." Teal said.

"Hey Teal? Why are you looking at the bad side of this?" Rusty said as Teal and Mag helped him onto his feet.

"What do you mean?" Teal asked out of curiosity.

"Chicks are going to swarm me to find out what happened." Rusty chuckled again.

"You always did have that side to you." Teal sighed. They set him down in dry grass and laid him on his back.

"Let me see." Mag said calmly.

"You sure, I don't want to scare you or anything." Rusty joked.

"I'm positive Rusty." Mag replied in a more serious tone. Rusty gave out a sigh and turned his head so she had a good view of what happened. Mag gasped at the sight of his face.

" _Rusty must've turned his head causing the shot to hit more of his face. Can't blame him for trying to get out of the way, but that's gotta hurt"_ Mag thought. It was worse than she had expected to see. There was a straight line of charred skin going from just passed his eye, down to burning his ear. She took a long look and sighed.

"That bad huh? Rusty joked.

"I hate to interrupt, but we have a schedule to follow." Cinder said from across the small field.

"I'll fight next." Mag decided. "Do me a favour and don't let Rusty do anything stupid, alright?" Mag smiled toward her friends as she stepped forward onto the field.

"Alright, Adam, if you would." Cinder said calmly. Adam sighed and stepped forward unsheathing Wilt and Blush. Mag gave a questioned response but drew Trick Fouet regardless.

" _I thought Adam would be fighting Blake? Why is he fighting me all of a sudden?_ Mag thought to herself. She gave him a look of curiosity and readied herself for the fight.

"Begin." Cinder declared. Mag held Trick Fouet defensively with both hands and waited for Adam to make the first move. Adam sighed and launched himself toward Mag at a much faster speed than Mag had anticipated. She teleported behind him and slashed at his rear, only for Adam to block behind his back without looking at her. Adam turned swiftly and using the turns momentum, swung at her chest. Mag hopped backwards to dodge, but her arm got hit by the slash in her motion.

"Damn." Mag said under her breath. She looked down at her sweater to see that her right sleeve had been cut slightly. Mag refocused and went on the defencive. She slashed at his chest only to have him block the attack again. It didn't stop her from keeping on the aggression though. She would attack, only for the blade to be blocked by Wilt and Blush. Mag jumped backwards and landed ready to send herself flying at Adam. She leapt off of the ground and flicked a tiny lever on her handle. When Adam blocked her attack as usual, her blade wrapped around his blade and slashed his face.

Adam didn't even falter, suddenly, he kicked Mag in the stomach ruthlessly causing a ghasp of pain from the teen. His plan slightly backfired however. When Mag was sent back, so was her blade which came around his sword slashing him in the face again. Adam looked up from the slash, but Mag was gone. She had teleported to a distance behind him and began firing her pistol. Adam turned at the first shot only being able to block the next four that came afterward. Mag vanished in an instant and cause Adam to search his surroundings again.

"She's doing pretty good." Ruby said excitedly.

"He's taunting her, I don't know why, but it's almost like he doesn't want to fight her." Blake said observingly.

"He's probably just pissy that he doesn't get to fight you." Rusty joked while still clutching the side of his face.

"Maybe, but it feels like he's holding back a bit." Blake sighed.

"That's odd, why would he hold back against Magenta?" Rusty asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him yourself?" Blake replied with a harsh tone.

"All I'm saying, is that if he doesn't start trying, he's going to get his bottom end handed to him on a silver platter, and then some." Rusty smiled.

Mag was fast, extremely fast, even without her teleportation. She would appear in front of him for a frontal assault, only for Mag to appear behind, or beside Adam and slash at him before she ran again. Suddenly, Adam turned and fired a dust round in a random location, where Mag had just appeared. The round slammed into Mag's chest sending her off of her feet and into a tree.

"Oww, that really hurt." Mag said in pain from the hit. She looked up to see Adam walking up to her with his blade drawn. He looked down at her, and Mag trembled in fear for a brief moment.

"Finish the fight Adam." Cinder ordered from across the field. He gave a sigh and raised his sword into the air. Something was off though, his arm was shaking. Mag physically couldn't do anything, she knew she was at her teleportation limit as well due to her sudden dizziness. There was nowhere to run.

"I-" Adam started. He looked away from Mag's eyes and turned to face Cinder.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." Adam sighed causing a confusion with everyone.

"Do it, or you and the White Fang will be obliterated off of the face of this planet!" Cinder ordered allowing her eyes to glow with her maiden power again. Adam turned back to face Mag and sighed.

"How does she expect me to do this? It's been so long, and I haven't even gotten a chance to talk with you." Adam sighed.

"W-what are you talking about? We've didn't meet until." Mag looked beside Adam and glared at Steel causing him to look away.

"Your family lost a son a long time ago correct?" Adam said calmly.

"Yeah, my mom says he left just after I was born. What's it to you?" Mag asked with hostility.

"My parents divorced when I was younger, then, my mother decided that she was going to go see another man. A year passed when suddenly, they had a child together. I know that you probably don't care at this point, but." Adam took a deep breath.

"But what? How is any of what you're saying relevant?" Mag said raising her voice.

Adam took another deep breath and sheathed his sword. "You, you were that child Mag. I decided to start my own life, where my family would be left behind. But, as it would seem, the past has one helluva way to catch up to you."

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _So, that just happened. Any comments?_

 _Mag:_ W-wh-when, where, why? What is going on? I can't understand anymore. I need something to drink! *Sprints out of the room*

RedMoose: Oh no you don't *follows with an axe*.

Me: _Well, she's pissed, or scared, or really confused, or all of the above. You know, I really can't tell most of the time._

Rusty: That's her brother? How could you do this to me you asshole.

Me: _What did you expect, besides, this story is almost done believe it or not. I only have a few more things that I want to put out there and then… Yeah..._

 _Rusty:_ WHAT THE FUCK! HOW COULD YOU JUST SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT? FIRST YOU ALMOST DROP US OUT OF THE AUTHOR'S NOTES COMPLETELY, NEXT, MAG'S BROTHER AND ALL THAT BULLSHIT, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU'RE ALMOST DONE WITH US ENTIRELY!

 _Me: I never said when it was going to end Rusty. I just said that the story will be ending "Soon" I never said how soon._

 _Rusty: Whatever, *whispers* can I at least get a kiss from her by the end of this?_

 _Me: Who knows? Aside from me that is._

 _Mag: Are you talking about me or something?_

 _Both: NO!_

 _Mag: Really, then why is Rusty's face so red?_

 _Rusty: Uh, no reason, I've got to go. BYE! *Dashes at full speed out of the room*_

Mag: Okay mister writer, we've got some things to discuss.

 _Me: Alright, you all can go now, I think that this is going to be a closed off conversation. See you in the next one!_


	27. Some Rusty Old Tactic

_**A.N.:**_ _It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On day like these…_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **People like you get dunked on.**

 _RedMoose:_ SHIT GETS FUCKED UP!

 _Ruby:_ we would go out and have a picnic!

 _Weiss:_ People train themselves while the weather stays nice

 _Blake:_ I read a book, or study, or something or other.

 _Yang:_ I BLOW THE FUCKING SHIT OUT OF A NIGHTCLUB!

Me: _Why is everyone talking all at once!?_

 _Elm:_ Come on guys where's your sense of adventure? You need to go to exotic places, meet strange new people, and then KILL them! *Smiles*

 _RedMoose:_ I second that. Elm have you seen my pen?

 _Me:Oh, So that's why people like you should be burning in hell. Got it!_

 _RedMoose:_ Come on down it's toasty down here.

 _Me: Nah, I've already had my bad time… And I think there are more to come._

 _RedMoose:_ No shit sherlock. HEY ELM SPARTAN25798 AND CLANCY NEED A HIGH FIVE! _*slips a lien card into Elms back pocket as he passes*_

 _Clancy:_ NOPE! FUCK THAT, I'M OUT OF HERE. GOOD LUCK SPARTAN!

Me: Let's just get to the chapter before I probably die!

RedMoose: You know what's the best about this limbo Earth/Remnant place? Semblances and aura exist and guess whose I get?

Me: Tell me later, because my semblance is STARTING AND ENDING THE AUTHOR'S NOTES! *End of top authors notes*

* * *

 **Some Rusty Old Tactic**

* * *

"What!?" Mag cried out.

"It's true, Magenta Jasney. I, Adam Taurus, am your brother. Or, at least half brother." Adam sighed. He turned his back to Mag and stared at Cinder and her group.

"So that's how you want to play? Alright." Cinder smiled and began to lift herself off of the ground with flames surrounding her entire body.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I cannot complete this objective." Adam said calmly.

"Fine, then you can watch her die in front of your very eyes." Cinder smiled. With a burst of flame, she sent Adam flying to the side. Suddenly, glass shards appeared out of thin air to create two swords.

"Wait!" Came a cry from the teens group. Cinder gave a smile and launched herself toward Mag.

Mag closed her eyes and waited for the blow to finish her. She couldn't move due to the large amount of pain that was in her back at the moment, and she was much to exhausted to use her semblance to get out of the way. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was a sound of metal cutting through flesh suddenly, but to Mag, there was no pain. She opened her eyes to see the sight in front of her.

There was a blade just inches from her neck giving Mag a sigh of relief. But as she looked ahead, she could see someone standing in front of her. She could see a blood stained maroon sweater with black colored combat pants in front of her. It was definitely a male figure, with their short brownish red hair.

"Damn, I thought that this armor protected against swords." A voice said. It sounded familiar

The sword retracted suddenly and the body collapsed to the floor. Mag tried to move to see who it was.

"H-hey, Mag." The boy wheezed.

"N-no, R-ru-sty?" Mag asked remembering the voice clearly. She fell onto her side and lay beside him. The two were staring into each other's eyes in absolute silence.

"P-please tell me that this scored some points with you." Rusty said quietly. Mag stared into Rusty's eyes with an immense amount of worry.

"Rusty!" Teal shouted running to their side.

"Well, at least I was a hero." Rusty said coughing out his words.

"Are you alright Mag?" Teal asked for reassurance.

"I'm fine, how bad is his wound?" Mag asked weakly.

"Shit, this is not good." Teal said in horror. The rest of the group ran over as fast as they could. Yang took a peak and shielded Ruby's eyes. There was blood coming out of Rusty's chest from both ends and spilling onto the floor. Teal put pressure on one side of the wound to try to stop the blood from escaping Rusty's chest.

"Give it up Teal, I made this choice." Rusty said looking up at the sky.

"Why would you risk that?" Mag said having tears escape from her eyes. She curled herself up into a ball and began to sob.

"For you. I would risk anything." Rusty said calmly turning to face her. Mag looked into his eyes and brought herself onto her hands and knees. Mag looked at Rusty and tears began to well up in her eyes again. She sat down on her knees and looked at the group across the field. They all had triumph written across their faces, except for Steel who refused to look at their group.

"Steel!" Mag called out catching his attention, but he couldn't look her way.

"What are you doing?" Rusty asked.

"I'm trying to save you." Mag replied calmly.

"W-what i-s it-t?" Steel stuttered.

"Please! Help him! I don't care about what you did!" Mag shouted with pleed. Steel looked over at the group and Rusty slowly dying on the ground.

"I-" Steel stopped himself. Would they really accept him after what he had done? What about the group he was with? They would most likely kill him if he made a move toward them.

"Make your choice Steel. Help your old colleague, be branded a traitor, and be trampled to the ground with the rest of Remanent. Or, stay with us and survive, and become the rulers over the upcoming new world." Cinder glared at him making Steel uneasy.

"Steel, please." Mag cried out, she fell to the floor and began to cry.

'Damn it!" Steel shouted gripping the hair around his wolf ears. He felt someone tap on his shoulder and turned to see Oriana standing beside him.

"Steel, you heard Cinder before, go." She whispered and gave out a sigh.

"What?" Steel asked.

"She's going to try to kill you either way. He made sure of that." Oriana said looking at Adam who had gotten back onto his feet.

"Please Steel, you're the only one who can help." Teal said having tears in his eyes as well.

"Steel, you have to help him." Weiss said.

"Yeah, help, please!" Ruby added.

"Steel!" Yang cried out, unable to look him in the eye.

"I know the choice is hard and unfair Steel, but please make the right choice." Blake pleaded. Steel took a step forward causing everyone's face to light up. As he stepped toward his old friends, tears began to form in his own eyes. He began to full on sprint up to his friends, and slid when he got close to them. He placed his hand on Rusty's wound causing him to flinch slightly.

"Hold still." Steel said calmly.

"This bullshit song and dance again huh?" Rusty scoffed. Steel merely smiled and closed his eyes. His aura flashed and surrounded his entire body. It began to spread onto Rusty's body and the hole in Rusty's chest began to shrink up. It shrank until all that remained was the cut in the sweater.

"There, all patched up." Steel smiled. Rusty patted his hands on his body where the injuries used to be only to find absolutely nothing. He moved up to his face and groaned.

"You couldn't have kept the one on my face? That sucks!" Rusty exaggerated getting a smile out of was a sigh close to them and the entire group looked behind them to see Cinder looming above them in the air.

"Your last test, and yet you failed." Cinder glared at Steel with flames surrounding her entire body sending a shiver down everyone's backs.

"I guess you had some high expectation of me then." Steel chuckled.

"No, I didn't, but not only you Steel, but Adam as well." Cinder turned to the bull faunus.

"You only can ask the impossible of me so many times." Adam turned away.

"Indeed, but I guess that the Grimm will have a good meal now at least." Cinder smiled. Suddenly, two large airships, a little longer and wider than a bullhead appeared from the swamp.

"Come, let's get out of here." Cinder said flying up to an airship as it descended. The others in Cinder's group followed her and boarded the airship. Oriana was the last one to board and the ship began to ascend.

"Just because you're a good infiltrator doesn't not make you one of them." Cinder smiled.

"What." Oriana questioned.

"The White Fang, I'll keep my promise and destroy them all. Don't worry, when I kill your younger brother though, I'll make it slow." Cinder smiled and kicked Oriana out of the airship where she came crashing down onto the ground.

"Damn it! Come back here you cowards!" Oriana shouted in rage.

"Oriana-" Steel started.

"What!?" Oriana snapped back.

"Things are really messed up right now, but we need to keep our heads." Steel said.

"If we're going to save them, we need get to the camp and inform everyone before Cinder attacks. We'll need to move fast." Adam said walking up to them.

"Woah, woah wait. Do we have a say in this?" Rusty asked getting onto his feet.

"Guys, I don't mean to alarm anyone right now, but there are a lot of Grimm heading our way." Teal said drawing his sword.

"Oh great, we do not have time for this!" Oriana shouted.

As a beowolf came flying at her from out of the treeline. She turned swiftly and kicked the beowolf in the face with the front of her foot. She leapt at the grimm and stabbed it with the hooks on her gauntlet. The grimm took it's last breath and began to disintegrate. Oriana turned again and pulled a larger than normal pistol out of a holster on her bottom back and shot an Ursa in the face. The gun didn't even make a sound as it fired due to the custom made supressor on the barrel. She put the gun back and readied her gauntlets.

"You had a pistol too?" Steel asked curiously.

"It's only for emergencies, and as a backup." Oriana sighed.

"Great, great, let's focus on the large grimm horde in front of us, shall we?" Rusty said as he shot a shotgun round into a Boarbatusk. The round landed clean in the side of it's head, killing it instantly.

"Where's that lazy uncle of ours?" Yang asked firing into the incoming Grimm.

"Who you callin lazy?" Qrow shouted from on a tree branch.

"Heh, canarie to help us fight uncle?" Yang asked holding back a chuckle.

"Fine, by the sounds of things, we need to get to that camp." Qrow said calmly.

He hopped out of the tree, landed on an Ursa's head, leaped off, and extended his sword.

"I know where to go, follow me!" Qrow said cutting three Beowolves in half with a single swing. Everyone took one look at each other and ran after Qrow. They ran in an arrow like formation killing all the Grimm in their path as they ran.

They came to a scene of a large encampment with Grimm running rampant and multiple tents on fire. White Fang members were trying their damndest to hold the beasts off, but were having a minor amount of luck in doing so.

"Everyone! If you're alive, get to the center of the camp!" Adam shouted.

Multiple White Fang members heard Adam and ran into the center of the camp. There were a little over twenty or so of them left. They all gathered in a circle in the center of the camp.

There they were, White Fang, Huntsman, children, all fighting together without muttering a word to each other. They were all focused on one singular thing, survival. The wave after wave of Grimm seemed like it was endless, and everyone was starting to get tired at this point.

"Shit! I'm out of rounds!" One of the White Fang members said.

"If you're out of ammo, use your swords damn it!" Adam commanded while checking his own ammo reserve in the second long break he had.

"There aren't just Nevermore's in the sky anymore!" One of the Fang members shouted.

"What are these damn things?" Another one asked, just before one swooped down and grabbed him and threw him into the grimm pack.

"Dammit!" Adam cursed under his breath.

"That's a big Ursa Major." One of the grunts said.

"Blake, let's do this." Adam said turning to face her.

She turned quickly and shot at his blade that was out of his sheath. The rounds impacted onto the blade and his hair began to glow bright red. When it got close enough, Adam built up the stored power and cut the beast in half with one swing.

"Heads up Adam!" Oriana shouted as strings flew past his face and into a beowolves face.

She pulled back and sliced horizontally killing multiple grimm in one swing. As if by a miracle, the Grimm horde seemed to be slowing itself down. Everyone could feel it, and put all their effort into the fight. As the Grimm numbers dwindled to a halt, everyone simultaneously took a deep breath.

"We lived? Holy shit." Rusty said collapsing in a heap on the ground.

"Oriana, have a look around with what men we have left and try to determine how many we lost." Adam sighed.

"Okay boss. Jeez, this day is going to shit." Oriana sighed.

"Yeah, ain't it just." Mag sighed and sat down beside Rusty.

"If I asked you out right now, you'd still probably turn me down wouldn't you?" Rusty chuckled. Mag playfully hit him on the shoulder and chuckled alongside him. The two started a conversation about what they would do if everything were back to normal and what they would be doing if it were.

"It's nice to see those two like that." Steel said in the form of a sigh.

"It is honestly. Did you know that before those two met, Rusty was one of the most disrespectful people that I've known?" Teal asked.

"Not much has really changed in that department." Steel chuckled.

"Trust me, it has a ton." Teal said sitting down in the grass.

"I guess I've noticed a slight change, yeah." Steel said in agreement.

"She basically completes him, no matter how many times she's shot him down, he's one determined son of a gun." Teal smiled at the two of them just talking for once.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Steel said taking a deep breath.

"Don't start. Seriously, I don't dwell on the past, it's what choices you make in the present that count with me. You are a good person Steel, you were just misguided." Teal sighed.

"I know, but, I wonder how they're taking all of this." Steel said looking at team RWBY. They were standing around talking about something, although, he couldn't hear what it was.

"You'll be fine, don't worry." Teal smiled.

"You always know how to make someone feel better, don't you?" Steel smiled.

"I guess, I've never really thought about it though." Teal sighed.

"No!" Came a cry from Oriana in the distance.

"Come on, let's go." Steel said starting to run toward the sound of the cry with Teal hot on his heels. They came across one of the burning tents and saw Oriana crouched on her knees.

"Oriana? What's wrong? What happened?" Steel asked rushing to her side.

"Not him. Please, not him." Oriana said with tears streaming out of her eyes. That's when Steel noticed a small boy, around the age of twelve with blood oozing out of a large cut on his head. The boy's eyes were shut and multiple other cuts, some large, others small, we're scattered around his body. His skin was pale and lifeless, and as Steel touched the boy's cheek, he could tell that the boy was ice cold as well.

"Who's that?" Teal asked calmly.

"T-th-is, thi-s is a b-b-bad dr-dream. This can't b-be h-appening." Oriana wept as she pushed the boy's hair out of his face.

"Oriana, is this your brother?" Steel asked looking down at the boy in her arms.

She gave a nod before giving the boy a deep hug and began crying into his shoulder. Teal gave Steel a tap on the shoulder and pulled him up.

"I just did a life form reading of the area. This boy's been dead for a while." Teal whispered in his ear quietly enough so Oriana couldn't hear him.

"Damn it." Steel cursed. He looked at Oriana who had suddenly stopped crying.

"W-wait. Steel, you can help him right?" Oriana asked hopefully.

"I, I'm sorry. Teal told me that he's passed away." Steel sighed.

"But you can heal him! Bring him back god damn it!" Oriana wept.

"I can't." Steel said looking away from her gaze.

"You can't say that! You have to at least try!" Oriana screamed.

"Try it, Steel." Teal said calmly.

"I can't bring a person back from the dead!" Steel shouted abruptly.

Teal had given Steel an odd look and sighed "What do y-"

"I mean I've tried! I've tried bringing someone back from death before! I can't do it!" Steel said having tears form in his eyes.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked running up to the scene with the rest of the group close behind.

"Why do you think I joined the White Fang?" Steel asked wiping away his tear.

"How is this relevant!?" Oriana asked.

"I'll tell you!" Steel shouted back. Everyone was all ears and Steel started his story.

"When I was younger, I lived with my parents. We had a nomadic village that would travel from Vale to Vacuo a lot." Steel took a deep breath and continued.

"We didn't have a lot of fighters, so I was training to become one when I was six. About a year later, our caravan group was attacked by a pack of grimm." Steel turned away from the gazes of the others and looked at the ground.

"My dad went out to fight, and fend off any monsters that got near our cart while my mom and I hid inside. After about three minutes, we had heard screams from the other carts, and before long, my father's." Steel could feel a tear rolling down his cheek as he spoke but toughed it out.

" An Ursa tore off the top of our cart and my mom went for a kitchen knife, but the Ursa pinned her down and r-ripped her throat out." Tears began to flow out of Steel's eyes as he spoke, but he knew he needed to continue.

"It had looked up at me when an airship flew over the site. Troops inside the ship shot the beast and killed it. They took care of the rest of the Grimm, and helped me out of the cart. The guy had a large cut on his arm, but when I touched him, it began to close up." Steel let out a sigh and wiped away his tears

" Then it hit me, healing.I came to the realization that I could bring them back. I rushed over to my mom, and I did the same thing I did to the other guy, but she didn't come back. I tried using the power on my dad as well, but it had no effect." Steel had begun to cry again at the memory of his parents.

"That's enough Steel, you don't have to tell anymore, we can understand the rest from there." Blake said giving him a comforting hug.

"S-so, he's gone forever then?" Oriana asked quietly. Steel nodded without looking Oriana in the eye and gave a deep sigh.

"Heh, heh heh, I guess that I failed him then." Oriana said, tearing up again.

"I don't think so, I think that in his final moments, he thought about you saying that and not wanting it one bit. He wouldn't want you to pin his death on yourself." Ruby said kneeling down beside her.

"I- I know, I just can't believe he's gone." Oriana sighed.

"Everyone, please report to the square as soon as possible!" Adam's voice thundered from the center of the camp.

"Come on Oriana, let's go see what he wants." Steel said calmly.

"You all go, I don't want to say goodbye yet, besides, I hate goodbyes so much." Oriana sighed.

"Alright, we can catch up with you later." Ruby said calmly. The group left her to her brother's care and walked to the center of the camp.

"Now, I'm sure many of you are mourning over your fallen comrades, but we need to leave this place. We will bury the dead here and then we leave for the kingdom. Despite everything, we need to head to Mistrial. I've had a little chat with one of the huntsmen and he believes that these kind of attacks will be launched worldwide at each of the kingdom's doorstep." Adam said looking toward the kingdom of Mistral.

"But if the fightings going to the kingdoms, shouldn't we be as far away from them as possible?" One of the men said.

"If you wish to leave and hide in the swamps, I will not stop you. I know I'm asking a lot by saying this, but there are faunus in Mistral too. Let's go save our brothers and sisters, even if we save humans as well!" Adam said triumphantly. A cheer came from the small crowd and Adam sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing, huntsman." Adam sighed and took a seat.

"Adam." Blake said coolly, walking up to him.

Adam hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Blake, I missed-" Adam started.

"Don't. I want to know why you did what you did. Why did you hurt me so badly?" Blake asked raising her voice a little.

"It's because I didn't have a choice." Adam sighed.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Blake asked crossing her arms.

"Cinder showed up at the camp just after you left. She threatened to kill all of us if we didn't join her cause. I intentionally did this so you wouldn't have to be in the center of it all." Adam said.

"Then why was I attacked by those thugs in the alleyway, one of which being Steel?" Blake asked.

"I'm sure you were shocked to find out about that traitor rule. Well, she set it in motion it in our first meeting with her in exchange for some much needed funds while you were out on a recon mission. We agreed to it, but I refused to tell you about it. She left and didn't come back until that day of the heist where she said to fight for her or all of us would be wiped out." Adam said calmly.

"And you just believed that?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"When the entire camp was surrounded by Grimm, and half of the troops were unconscious, it is a pretty obvious choice." He replied softly.

"Look, I didn't know, alright." Blake said softly lowering her tone.

"It was hell trying to cover for you. That's why your time at Beacon was so peaceful. Then the plan began taking place, and we were forced into bringing down the stadium as well." Adam sighed.

They were both silent for a moment.

"I,... I-I'd better go." Blake sighed as she turned her back.

"It was a good chat while it lasted. I guess it's time to say goodbye to some lost comrades." Adam sighed and disappeared from her view entirely.

" _What is happening to this world? Everything seems to have flipped itself in the past couple of days."_ Blake thought to herself as she walked toward her team. Despite everything he had said, she didn't forgive him, even if he acted to protect her. But he was right about one thing, they needed to move, and soon at that.

* * *

The White Fang was nearly all gone at this point, as the surviving members buried their fallen comrades, a feeling of more than just dread and sadness gloomed throughout the air. Once the last body was laid to rest, they knew that they had to move on.

Oriana was beside one of the burnt tents and held onto her head with great force. She loved her brother so much, but now that he was gone, was there really a point to living anymore. She, like so many others, had lost everything she cared about to the monsters of Remanent. She knew that life was almost not worth living anymore, but she also knew that her brother would never forgive her for giving up. Oriana sighed deeply and stood up. She gazed over the camp and the exhausted men and women.

" _I have to keep moving forward. For his sake, and mine._ " Oriana thought to herself.

"Oriana, I hate to bother you, but we're going to move out soon." Steel said calmly.

"Oh, okay." Oriana said quietly.

She checked her weapons briefly and started walking away.

"Wait." Steel gave out a sigh as she turned to face him.

"I'm sorry, about your brother. He was much too young to die, especially like that. I know how much he must have meant to you." Steel sighed.

I'll be fine Steel, you don't have to worry about me." Oriana said and began to walk away slowly.

"I know I don't, but it's in my nature to do so." Steel sighed walking off in the other direction.

"I know it is, it's kind of cute actually." Oriana whispered.

She was thankful that Steel was trying to be a shoulder that she could lean on, but at the same time, she didn't want to bring him down at all. Oriana saw Steel as a kind hearted boy that will try his damndest to do the right thing. Plus, it was fun to tease him once in awhile. She looked over at the gravesites where a small group had formed, with Adam speaking. Oriana decided to hear what he had to say and got a bit closer.

'Too our fallen comrades, friends, brothers, sisters, we must say goodbye now." Adad spoke to the newly buried in front of him. The dirt where the bodies lays were all turned up from being dug out and were arranged in an orderly fashion across the field.

"Goodbye, my dear brother. Let your soul be happy in the afterlife." Oriana sighed.

"Everyone, it is time to move out. Our destination is the Kingdom of Mistral." Adam declared.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Qrow asked tapping her on the shoulder.

"Uh, sure." Oriana replied slowly, cautious of the huntsman.

"How much do you know about Steel and his old friends that he's being reaquainted with?" Qrow asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Only what he's told me, and it's not a whole lot to go on. He mentioned a Weiss, Blake, Teal, Rusty, Magenta, Ruby, and Yang if I remembered the names correctly." Oriana tilted her head a little to look curious about something, but she wasn't sure exactly.

"That's it? All he told you was the names of them?" Qrow asked in slight disbelief.

"Well, I know a bit more on the first two, Weiss and Blake. Blake was once Adam's second, until a mission to steal a dust train went south and Blake was captured. All I know about Weiss, is the fact that she's the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." She said replying truthfully.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. What about the wolf himself?" Qrow said in a joking tone.

"Steel said he grew up outside of the kingdoms, he got attacked and the White Fang took him in. Aside from that, I don't really know too much about him." Oriana sighed. The only other thing she knew about him was a little bit of his fighting style.

"Alright, one more thing. Who is Cinder Fall?" Qrow's tone went dead serious and he leaned in to hear what she had to say.

"Cinder? That woman is surrounded in secrecy. I rarely ever met her in person, due to this, I received my orders from Adam Taurus. I do know about one thing though. She obtained some sort of large amount of power after the Vytal Festival incident, since then, it's been know what you need when you need to know." Oriana said recalling the past events to the best of her ability.

"Thank you, you've given me the last piece to the puzzle." Qrow said and ran off. The man had the happiest face that she had seen in a very long time as he ran.

"Glad I could help?" Oriana questioned herself.

"Let's move out!" Qrow announced. Without hesitation, the small camp split into two groups, one that was staying, and one that was going with teams RWBY and STRM in the leaving group.

"Oriana, are you coming with us?" Adam asked calmly.

"I can't dwell on the past or it will consume me. Count me in!" Oriana had her usual spark back to her. Even though she would be leaving her brother behind, her friends and comrades needed her now. She would say goodbye to her past yet again and let the road to the future guide her path.

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Well, here we go… Speaking of which, where have these guys been in the AN's recently anyways? Oh what was your sembla-_

 _RedMoose:_ MY OTHERS SELVES! _*sends an aura powered fist into Spartan25798*_ Elm go after Clancy!

 _rwbyfan5:_ **BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD NOX!**

 _Me:_ *wheeze* why...

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***violently pummeles Spartan25798's face with a meat tenderizer***

 _Rusty:_ Hey, I want in on that action! *Starts punching Spartan25798 as well*

 _Me: Mag *gets hit* he- *gets hit* help *gets hit* me *gets hit* please!_

 _Mag:_ Fine, but only because you asked so nicely.

 _Me: Thank you… *both teleport away into a separate room._

 _Mag:_ Now start writing the story, you owe me one.

 _Me: Thanks Mag, I'll see you all in the next chapter, bye!_


	28. Next Homecoming

_?_

 _*You hear shuffling outside the A.N. door._

 _*The sounds of a conversation drift in._

 _*You can't make out any of the words, but one voice sounds masculine, and the other feminine._

 _*You wonder what they could be talking about._

 _*Oh well._

 _*You decide you have better things to do._

 _*You start reading the chapter._

* * *

 **Next Homecoming**

* * *

Everyone was travelling at this point, because of the minimal rest and lack of energy, tensions were high at the moment. The traveling group had two undefined factions to it, the former White Fang members, and the hunters. They had arrived at the city gates after a good hour of walking but were stopped by the kingdom's guards.

"Lower your weapons gentlemen, I have information that must be brought to the headmaster immediately." Qrow announced.

"Alright, are the White Fang your friends now, huntsman? Or what?" One of the guards on the catwalk above asked.

"Something like that. Look, just don't pick a fight or anything with them, alright?" Qrow asked respectfully.

"Fine, but we'll be keeping an eye on them." The guard said.

They walked through the thick concrete gate and into the kingdom's walls. It seemed like everything was back to normal at this point aside from nobody being able to get a signal out. The city was filled with people and faunus that looked as though they were just trying to get by. Many of them had been put out of work due to the CCT going down in Vale.

"This place feels a tiny bit more lively at least." Ruby said optimistically.

They went up to what appeared to be a town square where people went about their day to day business. It was fairly crowded and noisy compared to the rest of the kingdom.

"I don't like it, people seem really sad and scared." Mag observed.

"That's basically just ringing a dinner bell for those monsters." Blake added.

"Heh, I think you mean a _Grimmer_ bell." Yang joked causing everyone in close proximity to her to groan out loud.

"Wait up!" A guard said running up to them.

"What is it?"

"Look, we forgot to tell you, but if you're here to meet with the headmaster, he's not at the school right now." The guard said.

"Great, then where the hell do I find that puff of smoke." Qrow asked in a sigh. From behind Qrow came Cloud and he stood on the small stage in the middle of the square and in front of the microphone.

"Um, Uncle Qrow." Ruby pulled on his jacket to try to get his attention.

"Quiet Ruby, I'm trying to figure out where he could have gone." Qrow said turning toward her.

"But, I think tha-" Ruby was hushed by Qrow's hand swiftly.

"I said that I need some peace, I need to put myself in his shoes." Qrow continued to ponder.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted.

"Fine, what is it Ruby?" Qrow asked with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Look at the stage." Ruby groaned.

"What?! Cloud was there the whole time! Why didn't you say something!?" Qrow mildly shouted.

"Someone's been drinking again." Yang sighed.

"Hey, hold up there before you go announcing anything there fluffy." Qrow said slurring a little.

"Someone had one to many didn't they Qrow?" Cloud chuckled.

"Should we remove him sir, I don't think that a drunk person is a reliable source for information." One of the guards whispered.

"Hey, I heard that." Qrow said with a hiccup.

"Don't bother, he's always drunk. Besides, I actually trust the man more when he's drunk." Cloud responded calmly.

"Grimm are probably coming to destroy the city. My guess would be in about half an hour or so." Qrow sighed.

"That would be logical if he wasn't drunk, sir." The guard said.

"There is a difference between drunk and extremely fucking tipsy!" Qrow shouted almost falling over.

"I'd ready up any huntsman that we have here. Safety is our top priority right now after all sargent." Cloud said calmly.

"Alright sir, I'll call over the closest te-" The guard started but was abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"HEY PIPSQUEAK, HOW'S THE SCYTHE WORKING!?" Ruby heard the unmistakable voice of the most "eccentric" hunter she knew.

"Oh no, I know that voice" Ruby and Qrow both groaned.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ruby and Qrow were father and daughter." Rusty whispered to Teal.

"Hey if it isn't the members of team RWBY, Pipsqueak, Ice Queen, Bow Peep, 'n Blondie." Elm said listing of his personal nicknames for team RWBY earning a "Hey" from Weiss.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss asked the team leader.

"I don't know, maybe you're just awesome with Ice dust." Ruby replied.

"No you're just cold and worse than me at sensing people's emotions." Elm replied.

"Elm, wait, why are you running?" Clancy asked as he, Nile and Xplat.

"Oh right, that, you see,GrimmStuffTiredGottaPeeNotEnoughTimeToExplainGottaGoBye" Elm said sprinting full speed towards the school.

"Uuuuhhh, what did he say?" Nile asked in confusion.

"FUCK YOU THAT'S WHY!" Elm shouted as he ran away.

"All I heard was something about Grimm." Clancy sighed.

"And I heard tired" Xplat sighed, trying to figure out her teammate.

"I see nothing has really changed with these guys." Teal sighed.

"Well, us, no. Vale, however, is a different story." Clancy said.

"How are our friends doing the last time you saw them?" Ruby asked happily. Suddenly, Elm came rushing back the group.

"They all got eaten and ripped to pieces!" Elm said quickly, but slow enough to understand.

"What!?" They all cried out.

"Nah, I'm just kidding, sort of…" Elm smiled.

"Stop scaring them." Nile said, rolling his eyes.

"Meh, it's fun." Elm shrugged.

"Speaking of friends from Vale, how were things there last time you saw?" Blake asked.

"Well to start, Jaune got his ass in gear, Pyrrha is in the hospital, Nora is still my favorite from team JNPR, and Ren… yeah he's still zen as fuck." Elm responded.

"Wait hold on, Pyrrha is in the hospital?" Weiss suddenly asked.

"Yeah her achilles tendon got severed in some friendly fire, at least some think it's friendly, a glass arrow is pretty unique." Elm said glaring at Nile.

"Oh, yeah, when Goodwitch found out that you had left with Qrow, she was livid as all hell." Elm chuckled.

"We were supposed to bring you back, but it seems that particular objective will be delayed." Clancy explained

"Oh, also, we tracked down some white fang and took care of them, speaking of which, where is that traitorous son of a bitch Steal." Elm said, seething with rage, causing the whole group to take a step back.

"By take care you mean you arrested them right?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"No no no we took care of them, as in eliminated the whole camp, as in lethal force, cut, slash, stab, blood, gore." Elm explained.

"Thats horrible," Blake said in disgust.

"Being a huntress isn't all glamour and beauty, sometimes there is hard choices people ask you to do for money and yeah we all gotta eat." Elm said calmly.

"But they had families, they only wanted equality" Blake argued.

"Listen miss kitty cat, I know you're ex white fang and you know what gets results." Elm replied calmly. Blake glared at Elm with a killing intent in her eyes.

"So anyways what has been up with you guys?" Elm asked quickly changing the subject.

"You look different Mr. Elm, wait let me guess, new clothes and hairstyle?" Ruby asked, a grin growing on her face.

"No! How could you only notice now? How could I be defeated so easily!" Elm cried out crumpling to the floor.

"I don't mean to interrupt your little reunion you have going on over here, but there is more than likely a hellstorm of Grimm headed straight to this kingdom's walls, if you don't mind, I'd like to be prepared. Even if it's just a little bit." Qrow said bluntly.

"Hakuna your tatas." Nile said with a grin, pleased with his comment.

"Look kid, I don't know who you are, but I've had teammates in the past with perverted minds too, so watch your mouth. Okay." Qrow chuckled.

"Hey, who are you calling kid, you drunk old man." Nile replied, equally calm.

"Tipsy!" Qrow shouted.

"Calm down you two." Clancy pleaded.

"Nile I am _very_ familiar of what Qrow is capable of drunk or sober, my advice to you is to keep you mouth shut and your cheeks clenched." Elm said.

"I see somebody reads my battle reports." Qrow said.

Nile levitated him off the ground and drew his sword. When suddenly...

"Enough! You are acting like children." Cloud yelled with a mild rage.

"This has gone on long enough, we have a task at hand and must get on with it." Cloud calmed down and walked up to the two huntsman.

"My apologies, I acted irrationally…" Nile said sincerely..

"That would be putting it lightly" Clancy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, now, about the grimm attack that's probably on it's way much sooner than I expected, it's still on it's way." Qrow pointed out.

"Right, I trust Qrow's judgement, so I believe we should be prepared for the worst." Cloud said.

"Alright, how do we want to plan this out then?" Clancy asked.

"Well, I have a plan… Or two… or ten… hundred… thousand… give or take a hundred." Elm said.

"Any RELEVANT! Plans?" Clancy stressed.

"Oh, then about two" Elm replied.

"Oh god, let's hear this one." Xplat facepalmed.

"Well, the first plan that I have is simple, everyone goes up to the gate with whatever weapons they can find and have. Next, as soon as we see the Grimm, we all charge them at full speed, shouting at the top of our lungs. Of course, I'll be at the back so that I can run if the plan doesn't work." Elm smiled.

"That's not exactly a bad plan, but that would risk too many lives." Cloud said calmly.

"Plus, that would just be an excuse for you to watch people die." Clancy added.

"Shhhh" Elm said putting a finger to Clancys lips. "I said I had two plans."

"And that is?" Xplat said in a chuckle.

"Well, using parts from vehicles around the kingdom, we make a large catapult like weapon that I like to call, 'The Xplat Canon'." Elm smiled.

"Fuck you." Xplat retaliated.

"What? It's called the Xplat Canon because you're the one who shoots it." Elm said.

"Okay, then what do we launch from it?" Qrow asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Me!" Elm said excitedly.

"No! That's the equivalent of dropping a nuke right beside the city!" Clancy protested.

"Exactly, that will kill all of the grimm in the area!" Elm replied.

"And if it doesn't, then the rest overrun you, rip you to shreds, then since that will blow a giant hole in the kingdom's wall, they swarm the rest of us killing everyone." Qrow said.

Elm paused, seeing how that might not be his most shining moment.

"Okay, didn't think about that. Bad idea." Elm nodded.

"Any other ideas?" Cloud asked.

"How many huntsman do we have in the city currently?" Adam asked stepping forward.

"Well, there is team ABEX which you've already met, the staff from the school, and if there were any teams that didn't go to the festival in Vale, they'd be here. My guess would be around twenty or so huntsman, not counting students." Cloud said.

"Only twenty?" Blake asked in surprise.

"Well, most of the huntsman in the city went to Vale due to what happened there." Cloud explained.

"Great, so we should probably get the citizens ready for a fight then." Clancy sighed.

"If it does come down to that, we have told the citizens to prepare for the situation should it arise." Cloud nodded.

"Okay, okay, I'm all for a fight, but could someone explain to me why these people are here, in the middle of the city?" Elm asked pointing at the White Fang group.

"Look, I don't really like these guys being here any more than you do, but they do offer up some extra bodies to help defend this kingdom so I recommend letting them be, at least for the time being." Qrow explained.

"Aww, so I can't kill any of them then?" Elm asked.

"No, you can't." Adam stepped in front of his group to prove he was ready for a fight.

"Drat, I thought that I would get to have some fun." Elm sighed in defeat.

"Oh my god Elm! What is with you and your murderous tendencies?" Nile asked in a shout.

"Meh, I don't know, it's extremely fun I guess." Elm smiled.

"Alright, we need to get everyone ready for a battle then." Qrow stated.

"Now, not that I don't trust your judgement Qrow, but how do you know about the Grimm attack on Mistral?" Cloud asked calmly.

"I thought you of all people would have figured that out by now. Fine, I'll tell you." Qrow took a deep breath as everyone leaned in to hear what he had to say.

"Think about the mood of the kingdoms lately after the last brief message from Vale. People have been down a lot after hearing that all communications are down globally." Qrow stated.

"That would bring a depression and sadness that Grimm would be attracted to." Blake added.

"Precisely, and now, due to the very large amount of panic and sadness in all of the kingdoms, these grimm are going to charge the major cities." Qrow sighed.

"So it isn't just us then, what about the other kingdoms?" Cloud asked with concern.

"Vale has already been through an attack and have survived, they have set up defences around the kingdom so I think that they'll be okay. Mantle has the atlesian military so they're mostly protected. The only kingdoms that are in danger are this one and Vacuo." Qrow explained.

"The fall of one of the kingdoms would cause a mass panic about security in the kingdoms." Cloud thought aloud.

"Wait, if the grimm are attacking and there is sadness all over the world, couldn't everyone tell then?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, if everyone in a city is in sadness, that would practically become the norm. It is a lot harder to detect sadness and prove to everyone that a grimm attack is on it's way when that's a factor." Qrow said.

"Get the guards stationed at the main wall. We'll have a huntsman team with ranged weapons behind them and the rest covering the gate. If the Grimm manage to get through the gate, the civilians will need to help the huntsman hold the gate afterward. If that line falls, then we protect the city inside the gates." Cloud said strategically

"That sounds like a plan, arm the guards with ranged weapons on the wall and hope for the best then." Adam dismissed.

"It's not much but it's the best plan that we've got." Qrow agreed.

"Should we have been discussing this in public? Adam asked.

"Oh relax you big oaf. We'll be fine." Elm said calmly.

"Look, I am here under a request by that huntsman. Arguing and bickering is useless if we all die." Adam replied looking the huntsman in the eye.

"I almost like this asshole." Elm smiled.

"Let's just get to the point, we need to get all of the town officers and guards outfitted with ranged weapons. Let's get everyone who can fight up to the main gate!" Cloud said extending his trident to it's fullest.

The Trident was a red color now and appeared to be surrounded by dust particles. The trident was placed with the bottom on the ground and was a little larger than Cloud himself.

"WOOO HOOO! We get to kill some fucking grimm! Finally!" Elm shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Before that, I have some business to attend to." Cloud said. He walked up to the stand again and spoke into the microphone that was in place there.

"Citizens of Mistral, I have some grim news. Our scouts have identified a large incoming Grimm threat heading toward the city. This is an estimated level eight to nine attack. We have come up with a plan, however, we need your help good people. To any capable fighters among you, we ask that you please head to the kingdoms front gate. We need you to be armed, and ready for a fight against these monsters. This is your choice to make, and yours alone, may the heavens help us." Cloud announced and stepped down from the podium.

"Meh, I give you a six out of ten for delivery." A man said leaning against a pole to the side of the road.

"Nobody asked you, Elm." Nile facepalmed

"You should look before you say things boy." The man said stepping forward.

He was wearing brown colored combat boots with black laces holding them tight to his feet. He had a blue t-shirt with a pair of black cargo pants. Lastly, he wore a blue sweater that was a little darker than the t-shirt's color with the sleeves rolled up. At a glance he seemed like a normal person to everyone, until they glanced his hands which had been replaced with robotic synthetics.

"Wait, you're not Elm." Nile suddenly realized.

The man quirked an eyebrow.

"Really? What tipped you off?" He asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"DAD!" Elm suddenly shouted from his position at the top of building behind Cloud.

"How the hell did you even get up there?" Mag asked in shock.

"Me." said a young woman about Elms age hanging upside down from a lamp post above Mag.

She had on a black fitted t-shirt with a golden alloy dragon scale design that looked like it acted as armor for her sleeves. Over that was a white tunic that was slit near the midway point on her back revealing a reptilian tail of some sort indicating she was a wore khaki green colored capri pants that were being held up by a scabbard utility belt around her waist, while having a black pair of combat boots on her feet. On her ears dangled a pair of small golden amethyst earrings that gleamed as sunlight passed through them.

"Okay, I'm a little freaked out right now. Where is everyone coming from?!" Mag asked in confusion.

"It's okay Mag, I'm scared too." Rusty said stepping toward her while leaning in to hug her..

"I don't care that you were just stabbed through the chest, touch me and you're dead one hundred times over." Mag replied putting Trick Fouet up to his neck.

"Aww you are so cute, you should go out." the woman hanging above Mag said.

"Stay on topic for five fucking minutes please!" Qrow shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I can do that for five minutes." Rusty said looking at Mag.

She gave him a glare and Rusty took a step back.

"Well it looks as though one of the team is here. Where are your teammates, Washington?" Cloud asked.

"Umm, let's see, the big oaf is somewhere around here, knowing that assassin, she's probably sulking in the shadows somewhere, and the dust beauty is somewhere close by." The man named Washington replied.

"Don't insult your teammates like that. You never know when they're going to sneak up on you and beat the ever living shit out of you." The girl said still hanging from the lightpost.

"Oh trust me, they've tried" Washington replied.

"Okay, quick question to you, how is the blood not rushing to your head right now?" Steel asked quietly to the woman still hanging upside down.

"Trust me boy, when you hang upside down for a quarter of your life, you get used to it." The girl said propping herself up onto the light so she was level again.

"Alright, everyone with a ranged weapon head up onto the wall. I'm sick and tired of everyone sitting around and doing nothing." Qrow sighed.

"You should join us, it's quite relaxing" Elm said leaning against a wall behind Mag.

"How did you get there?" Mag asked bewildered.

"Again, me." the woman above Mag responded.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Mag shouted.

"Oh yeah…. Probably should have introduced you, everyone this is Aroya Knyght-Dyancer… we are dating… she probably won't kill you… probably." Elm said staring at Rusty.

"I still don't approve!" Washington piped up.

"Shut up, you're not my real dad!" Elm responded.

"Yes I am, you little brat!" The older huntsman shouted back.

"Fuck this, If you all want to die, be my guests. Anyone who actually wants to live, defend the main gate." And without another word, Qrow walked up to the closing main gate of Mistral to aid in any defence that would be needed.

"Uncle Qrow, wait for me!" Ruby shouted and dashed toward her uncle, only to have him step out of the way and have Ruby crash head on into the wall.

"Oh my god, Ruby, are you okay."Yang asked from afar.

"No, she broke her nose" Elm shouted pointing out the blood pouring from Ruby's nostril.

"Hold up, I got this." Steel walked over to Ruby to heal her.

"Wait, hold up you traitorous son of a bitch, if she never has to heal on her own when a serious injury is caused and YOU are not around it will be torture." Elm stepped forward.

"Seriously, not the point." Steel responded.

"Ex-White Fang?" Wash asked.

"Yeah." Elm replied

"Why is he not crippled yet?" Wash asked, walking over to Steel.

"Now Elm makes sense." Weiss whispered to Yang.

"I know, It's like a _tree_ able version of Elm." Yang chuckled

"I have a gun." Elm replied coldly.

"And I have a _pun_." Yang said, loading Ember Celica.

"I will kill you with your own weapon." Wash said walking towards Yang, rolling up his sleeves and exposing prosthetics.

That's when the city guard started to arrive from around the city to form up near the main gate.

"Well, they certainly arrived here fast." An impressed Blake said.

"I want as many teams as possible on the wall with ranged weapons at hand, we're going to close the main gate so get inside the walls." Cloud announced.

"Now we can focus on the defence. Nice." Qrow smiled.

"All teams form along the wall with ranged weapons. We're defending against a large incoming grimm attack." Cloud announced in a booming voice.

"Ruby, Steel, Rusty, could you go up onto the wall as well? Your ranged weapons will prove very useful to this defence." Qrow asked.

"What about me? I have a ranged weapon." Mag said optimistically.

"The range of it is the limiting factor, they all have longer ranged weapons rather than a pistol." Qrow explained.

"Fair enough. I guess that I'll be more useful near the gate." Mag sighed.

"Aww, it's alright Mag, I know it will be difficult to be away from me, but I'll see you again." Rusty said holding his arms open for a hug. Mag walked up to him, gave a sigh, and swiftly gave him a punch right in the stomach.

"Should've seen that coming, right?" Mag joked.

"I don't mind, that just shows me that you care." Rusty chuckled.

"Okay you two, knock it off." Teal said stepping in between them before Mag could hit Rusty again.

"Thank you Teal. Okay, I don't feel as pissed off anymore." Mag smiled.

"Let's get everyone into place." Qrow said and Ruby, Steel and Rusty took of into the wall.

Inside there was a staircase that led straight up to the roof of the wall. Ruby immediately deployed Crescent Rose into it's sniper form and got comfortable while Steel and Rusty went down the wall a little more.

"Stay safe up there." Yang called up.

That's when the ground began to rumble slightly. Everyone took a quick glance around to try and find the source of the vibrations, but couldn't spot anything, but over time, they got progressively more shaky.

"Everyone, get ready! Here they come!" Qrow said pulling out his greatsword.

"Hey Aroya, I bet I can score more kills than you." Elm called out to the woman who was still sitting on the lightpost.

"Alright, you're on!" She replied with much enthusiasm.

"I still don't really approve of this." Washington sighed.

"Well, get used to it because we're inseperable at the moment." Elm smiled.

"I've got movement in the treeline!" One of the guards shouted.

"Ruby, make your shots count." Qrow called up.

The sound of sliding metal moving into place could be heard as Ruby aimed down her sight.

"Wait for them to exit the treeline, then open fire." Cloud said readying his trident as he moved close to the gate.

Suddenly, hundreds of Grimm flowed out of the treeline and made a rush for the gate. Every guard and hunter that could, began unloading into the incoming Grimm forces. Rusty and Steel began targeting mainly Beowolves and smaller Ursa in order to conserve as many shots as possible, while Ruby targeted bigger Grimm like Ursa Majors, Boarbatusks and the odd Death Stalker.

"This isn't working very well!" Ruby shouted as she reloaded.

"If you are an unarmed civilian, retreat to the school immediately!" Cloud shouted. There was a rush of people running toward the school mainly women and children while many men found weapons and moved to defend the main gate.

"They're breaking through our line." Rusty said pulling out a magazine from a pouch on the back of his chestplate.

"Keep firing damn it." Steel replied after popping a Beowolf in the head. More guards began arriving and ran up to help the smaller group to defend the wall

"What do we do?" Blake asked readying Gambol Shroud.

Washington gave a sigh and turned to her. "We wait for them to break through the firing line, and then, we fight."

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ **Ha! I got to the bottom first! I am the author now! All hail Nox! MUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 _Me: Oh shit, I'm late to my own party, how the hell does that even work when I control when the A.N's start and stop?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Still laughing maniacally in the background***

 **Puck: I think you left the A.N. door unlocked, and he just waltz right in uninvited, as usual.**

 _Me: I guess that you would know rwbyfan5 the best. I was positive that I locked that door though._

 **Puck: Well, considering that I'm a multi-dimensional thoughtform born and raised inside his head...yeah, I know him pretty well. And he may or may not have broken down the door. *Shrugs***

 _Me: The amount of willpower and determination that he must've had to complete such a task boggles my mind. AND HOW THE FUCK IS THE DOOR STILL PERFECTLY ON IT'S HINGES?!_

 **Puck: Well, I thought that it was a little rude when he hypothetically broke down the door with a hypothetical minigun, so I might've replaced it. Hypothetically.**

 _Me: Mag teleported you in, didn't she?_

 **Puck:... So, where did RedMoose run off to? Isn't he usually here by now and accusing you of some kind of debauchery or other?**

 _Me: hmm, good question, but seriously, how did you get in here? No hypothetical scenarios either._

 **Puck: Alright, so, what happened was...well, you see….uh… *Chibi Penny enters from the kitchen, eating a comically oversized cookie***

 ***Silence***

 **She really wanted a cookie.**

 _Me: Okay, and that explains how everything is perfectly fine and you guys are in here, how?_

 **Puck: Well, I came over here and saw her sitting outside of the door. I asked her what she was doing, and she said that she wanted a cookie that she saw in the kitchen last time she was here, so she was waiting for someone to unlock the door. So, I may or may not have tuned my finger into a key and let her in. Then rwbyfan5 saw the door was open and well, you know the rest.**

 _Me: And you didn't think to lock the door… because?_

 **Puck: *Picks up Chibi Penny and shoves her in Spartan25798's face* JUST LOOK AT HER, SHE IS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!**

 _Me: Alright, I'll let you off the hook. But could you do me a favor?_

 **Puck: What?**

 _Me: COULD YOU TELL RWBYFAN5 TO STOP LAUGHING AND YELLING AT THE SAME TIME!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **I'M THE AUTHOR NOW! ALL HAIL THE GLORIOUS NOX! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!**

 _Me: Oh god, help us all. *Sighs*_

RedMoose: So you had stuffs happen… neat.

 **Puck:** _ **There**_ **you are.**

 _Me: Oh, sure, so now you show up!_

RedMoose: Shhh, I was at the pen store… they have a terrible selection… why is it so hard to find one goddamn quality pen?

 _Me: Fine, just fine, whatever, WOULD SOMEBODY SHUT HIM THE FUCK UP!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-**

 **Puck: *Slams a frying pan into rwbyfan5's face***

 _Me: THANK YOU!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***continues laughing in his sleep* heheheheheehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe-**

 **Puck: *Continues to slam the frying pan into rwbyfan5's skull, bit of brain starting to stick to the non-stick surface***

 _Me: Alright, everyone out, I need to recollect my sanity. Puck, could you help rwbyfan5 out? *Pushes everyone out of the A.N. room.*_

 _Mag:_ You missed me.

 _Me: Whatever, just give me some time to recollect my thoughts._

 _Mag:_ Alright, have fun.

 _Me: Thank you,_ somebody _gets it._

 _Mag:_ Well, I'm going to take a nap on the couch, wake me up if you need me for anything. I'm exhausted right now. *Falls asleep instantly on the couch

 _Me: Okay, have a good rest then._

 _RedMoose:_ *Cuts door down with lazerpens* HAHAHA these are fucking awesome. *Draws arrows pointing at Mag with the words

"Easy 3 step method on how to get laid: step one remove pants, step two remove partners pants , step three initiate intercourse sequence." in the air with lightpens* I am a fucking badass. *leaves*

 _Me: despite him being one of my best friends, I really do hate that asshole._

 _Mag:_ *wakes up* wait… why are there dicks drawn all around me in the air?

 _RedMoose:_ FUCKING LIGHTPENS, ALSO SO I WILL LEAVE YOU TOO LOVE BIRDS IN HERE FOR A BIT… HAVE FUN. *walks away* RUSTY SPARTAN25798 AND MAG ARE GOING AT IT… YOU SHOULD GO TAKE A PEEK.

 _Rusty:_ THAT FUCK!

 _Me: Oh shit! Mag could you help me barricade this room? Please, I really would like to finish the story one day, and I can't do that if I'm dead._

 _RedMoose:_ Oh don't be a drama queen, Rusty won't hurt you much… I hope.

 _Me: Great, you know, this just isn't my day. *Exhales deeply*_

 _RedMoose:_ I have 5 bucks that Spartan25798 wins.

 _Me: Wins what? A fight against Rusty?_

 _RedMoose:_ Yes now since author's notes are 18a we can't show full dismemberment so till next time dear readers.

 _Me: Yeah, ending authors notes, rrriiiiiigggggghhhhhttttt… NOW!_


	29. Battle of Heros

_**A.N.:**_ … _?_

 _*There doesn't appear to be anyone home._

 _*The author must be late again._

 _*Several voices can be heard just outside, impatient tones filling their words._

 _*At the edge of your hearing, you can make out a few words._

" **Motherfucker can't even be bothered to show up on time anymore!** "

"I think he's letting his so-called 'fame' go to his head."

" **Christ, I cancelled plans to be here.** "

 _Me: *Gets teleported into the room* Thanks Mag, I owe you one._

 _Mag:_ Don't worry, I've got your back. *Gives a thumbs up and teleports away*

 _Me: rwbyfan5, RedMoose, where are you?_

 _*Banging can be heard from the door._

 _Me: Who is-_

 _*The door explodes into a million pieces, revealing rwbyfan5, RedMoose, and Puck._

 _Me: Uh, hi guys, what took you so long. Oh, god, I'm in trouble aren't I._

* * *

 **Battle of Heros**

* * *

"The line isn't holding up that well, even with the reinforcements!" Steel shouted down to the large crowd clustered in front of Mistral's main gate.

"Hey, dad! Aroya! Do you remember the time back when we were in the lumber mill and surrounded by grimm? You know! The part with the saw blade!" Elm shouted.

"Yeah, what about it?" Aroya asked hopping down from her vantage point.

"You see the gate there? Let's do the same tactic when they're about to break through." Elm replied.

"I like the way you think Elm." Aroya smiled.

"He has his moments, I guess." Clancy sighed.

"Fuck you! I'm the most badass one on this team! Who says that I can't come up with a good plan?" Elm asked rhetorically.

"How about the Xplat canon idea." Xplat asked.

There was a silence between everyone and the only sounds that could be heard were gunshots and growls from grimm.

"Fuck you…" Elm said before running up to the gate and punching a beowolf through the thick bars.

He didn't hit it very hard, but using his semblance, the beowolf went flying through the air just above the ground.

"Okay, no matter how many times I see you do that, it's always cool." Aroya nodded.

"Until you're on the other end of it and literally crash a school dance." Clancy said sending a burning glare toward Elm.

"Not my fault! I just, umm, slipped, yeah, there we go." Elm said abruptly.

"Okay, that thing is really big!" Ruby said taking her eyes away from the sniper scope.

"What is it Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Uh, there's a goliath group heading our way, and they do _not_ look too happy." Ruby replied in a half squeal.

"Well you know what they say about big things, right?" Elm smiled.

"What? The bigger they are then the harder they fall?" Mag asked.

"No. Close, but no. The line is the bigger they are, then the more that they bleed!"

"Oh my god! I didn't know that you listened to her music!" Yang said with excitement

"What? Who's music? I have no idea what you're talking about. Hey, can we focus on the fight again? That seems really interesting. Way more interesting than this conversation. Right? Right. Okay." Elm said dismissively

"You so listen to Casey lee Williams. That's a line in one of her newest songs." Yang said going full on detective.

"I assure you that I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about Yang. I wouldn't listen to her music even though it's awesome." Elm said turning away from her gaze.

"How would you know it's awesome if you didn't listen to it then?"

"Shh, we will talk about this later, if we survive." Elm whispered into Yang's ear.

"Fine, but you'd better not die then." Yang glared.

"Okay, I think that those grimm are close enough now, are you two ready?" Elm asked.

"Born ready." Aroya smiled.

"Ready? Sure. Three, two, one, go" Wash said running towards the gate.

Aroya from still on her lamp post throws her weapons in their claw form grabbing on to Elms left arm. They appeared to be a three bladed spear with hinges giving them the claw capability a short handle connected to a metal cable that she had wrapped around her forearms, and the cable continued down to a self winding spools on her belt. She started spinning him clockwise in a circle with Elm running along the walls in the courtyard. Just as the grimm break through the dline Wash ripped off the thick, reinforced gate and uses it to swat a ursa major like a fly. He then throws the gate in the air, Aroya throws Elm at the gate and he lands a two footed semblance enhanced kick on the gate sending it flying and deformed at the horde of grimm spinning, slicing several beowolves apart and slamming into a goliath killing it and causing several grimm to be squished underneath the corpse.

"So, how many did that get? Like fifty?" Elm asked with excitement.

"That still only counts as one" Aroya shouted at Elm from her pirtch.

"What?! That's fucking bullshit!" Elm said with an angry glare

"No I was talking about the behemoth we both get those kills since it was a team attack." Aroya responded.

"But what about the grimm it crushed as it fell?" Elm asked smugly.

"That's an unconfirmed amount so they don't count." Aroya shot back.

"Okay, fine, we both start with twenty. Whoever gets more kills has to do one thing that the other person tells them to." Elm said.

"Alright, I'll take that bet." Aroya smiled.

"Look lovebirds, I don't mean to interrupt, but we've kind of got a situation on our hands right now." Mag said cutting through a beowolf that was about to jump the two of them.

"Shut up, Mag. Prince charming is both right here, and up on that wall. The one that stands here is taken, so you'll have to settle for second best." Elm said and without another word, he took of into the grimm horde.

"Do you like that guy?" Aroya asked pointing up to Rusty.

"If you're implying what I think you are, then no, can't say it's the same for him though."

"You are a larger, less adorable Ice queen" Elm shouted from inside the Grimm horde. Or what was a grimm horde until a shockwave sent them all flying backwards. "Grimm drop motherfuckers" Elm shouted happily.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mag asked quietly.

"Shit! I've got to kick Elm's ass at this or I'll be at his mercy. I'veGotToGoKillSomeMonstersAndShitButWeCanTalkLaterBye." Aroya said before sprinting off to the front lines.

"Okay, they both act the same, think the same, and talk the same." Mag sighed. "They're absolutely perfect for each other!" She smiled happily. Suddenly an Ursa growled behind her taking Mag by surprise. She turned quickly to see that it had it's head taken off and a claw inches away from her head.

"Hey, keep your wits about you Mag, Rusty would be traumatized if anything happened to you." Teal said before running after another Ursa.

"Why does everyone keep running away from me." Mag asked.

"Your one to talk Mag!" Rusty shouted from on top of the wall as he covered the way up.

"How the hell did you even hear me?" Mag shouted back while blindly shooting a beowolf in the chest.

"Ever seen Red vs Blue? Picture me as Tucker with the bow chicka wow wow jokes except replace them with me pretty much knowing exactly what you're saying!" Rusty shouted back.

"I can't tell if that's handy, or just plain creepy." Mag whispered.

"Probably the first one!" Rusty shouted again.

"Rusty, I really hate you right now." Mag said in a sigh.

"Sorry, I missed that one! Wait, Mag, behind you!" Rusty said turning his body to try to shoot the large Alpha beowolf that had somehow snuck up on her.

"This is the worst day ever, of all time." Mag sighed as she braced for an impact. The beast hit her in the chest and sent her skidding across the asphalt below her. The poor beast was then pelted with round after round of fire from Rusty's burst rifle.

"Mag, are you alright?" Rusty shouted a hint of concern creeping into his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mag replied dusting herself off.

"Hey would you come up here and cover us while we are shooting," Rusty said slashing at a beowolf as it climbed over the wall, "We're getting a little overrun."

"Yeah, good call. I can use my semblance to cover more ground faster." Mag responded, teleporting up beside Rusty.

From where she was standing she had a pretty good view of the battlefield. Since the engagement was in its early stages the battle field was not covered by corpses of the fallen. She could see in the distance three open pockets of swamp where Wash, Elm, and Aroya were fighting on the front lines.

"Well those three are having a field day" Rusty said taking a chance to observe the battlefield.

"Oh them," Clancy said all of a suddenly standing behind the Mag and Rusty "I'm pretty sure this is the kind of thing those three live for."

"Uh, guys there's more of those big things on their way, and they look really mad." Ruby announced, Up on the wall, people were shooting at any grimm below, and at the gate, they were trying to hold as many grimm back as possible.

"How many goliaths Ruby?" Clancy asked.

"Five? No, six!" Ruby replied.

"Looks like Elm and Aroya are moving to intercept." Rusty said observingly.

"Even for Elm, that's not going to work, he's strong but definitely not invincible. Also, I doubt that he could kill more than two before they got here in a one on one fight." Clancy sighed.

"What do we do? If those creatures get to the wall, they'll just crash right through it!" Mag shouted.

"Everyone on the upper wall, focus your fire on those goliaths!" Clancy shouted and used his desert eagle styled pistol, Courbee to try to help out as well.

"Focus on the outer two first then work your way in." Steel said releasing short controlled bursts from Axe Ghevar.

They did just that, but the armor on the goliaths were slugging off the rounds making them more angry and they began to charge faster.

"Shit, they're not going to die quick enough." Rusty said with a large amount of fear in every word.

"Damn it! Get everyone away from the wall and back the hell up!" Clancy shouted jumping off of the wall and rolling to break his fall.

Everyone on the ground pushed the grimm back before running to a minimum safe distance to allow the guards on the wall to get off. Mag, Rusty and Steel were still firing at one goliath to try to kill it, and it seemed like it was starting to slow down.

"Get close, if they are about to ram the wall, grab onto my hand, and I'll get us out of here." Mag said between shots. She looked down at the three huntsman who were actually being pushed back.

"Mag, they're not going to be able to get into the kingdom walls in time." Steel said.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Suddenly, Mag disappeared and just as quickly reappeared beside Aroya who was shocked by her sudden presence.

"What are you doing here, it's way too dangerous." Aroya said cutting into a beowolf.

"I'm getting you back to the inner wall. You'll die if I don't." Mag replied as an Ursa major ran through the crowd.

"Shit, no time." Mag sighed and grabbed onto Aroya's hand. In an instant, they appeared behind the walls again with several grimm flowing through the gates.

"Go get the other two, but get Elm last, he'll use a grimm drop again to cover your exit." Aroya said and ran to the front lines where people and guards alike were holding back the grimm.

Mag appeared beside Washington to see him rip of an Ursa's arm and club a beowolf with it.

"Sorry, but we've got to get inside the walls, now!" Mag said grasping onto his arm and teleported away from the field.

"Damn, I was just getting warmed up though." Wash said giving his arm a stretch.

"Go help on the front lines then." Mag replied. Within an instant she appeared beside Elm.

"Hey kiddo, when I tell you, use that power of yours to jump into the air then come get me." Elm said cutting an ursa in half with his sword.

"Okay." Mag said shooting a beowolf and slashing another right beside it.

"Go!" Elm said jumping into the air. Without hesitation, Mag teleported upward and looked down to see a massive shockwave send a good chunk of the grimm flying. Mag landed beside Elm and grasped onto his shoulder. They suddenly appeared in the kingdom walls. When Mag opened her eyes, Elm was already running toward the front lines.

"Mag!" Rusty shouted from up on the wall.

"Crap, I almost forgot about those two." Mag said and bound toward the wall, she jumped into the air and appeared in between Rusty and Steel.

She opened her eyes to see a goliath about a meter in front of them at full charge. She reached for both of their hands to get them off of the wall. She grabbed Steel's hand and reached for Rusty's. Suddenly, the goliath hit the wall at full force putting a large crack in the concrete wall. The shock sent them off balance and Rusty fell away from the other two.

"Damn it. Rusty hold on!" Mag said getting onto her feet.

Rusty got up as well and jumped over the fairly large crack in the wall. When Rusty looked down at the goliath that hit the wall, he couldn't help but chuckle because it had knocked itself out from the force of the hit. He barely landed on the other side, but landed regardless and ran toward his two teammates. Mag reached out for him and grabbed onto his hand. The teleported into the kingdom just behind the front lines.

"Well, that was lucky." Rusty said in amazement.

"Y-yeah." Mag agreed. She suddenly felt light headed and fell to the ground onto her back.

"Whoa, Mag, take it easy." Steel said coming to her side.

"You okay, hot stuff?" Rusty asked making sure everything was secure around them.

"Well, at least I didn't knock myself out this time." Mag said giving a sigh of relief.

"You know, distance wise mixed with the amount of teleportations that you did, I'd say that the display you gave might just be a new record for you." Rusty said giving a thumbs up. Mag smiled and gave him a thumbs up back.

"Shit! They're breaking through the wall!" Came a voice from the crowd.

Suddenly, a goliath burst straight through the wall making a hole the size of the main gate. Another came bursting through the other side creating another giant hole. The one of the two goliaths ran through the new opening and charged the three of them, completely ignoring the people at the front lines.

"Mag, can you get us out?" Rusty asked in fear. Mag slowly shook her head. As it charged the, they looked around for a quick way out, but couldn't find anything that would work fast as they were about to accept their fate, a crystal that had the look of burn dust, came flying through the air. The goliath caught it with the tip of its mouth allowing the end to poke out. There was a gunshot from behind the group of three and the shot hit the crystal. It exploded in the giant's mouth and blew its head off in a display of fire, lightning, and a touch of wind.

"Gotta admit, I love when shit goes from bad to hell, it's more fun that way." Came a woman's voice.

When they all turned, she was holding a snubnosed revolver with a small bayonet and a small amount of smoke coming out of the barrel. She was wearing a dark red sports bra underneath a black zip up sweater that she left open. There was a sash for grenades across her chest, but instead, they carried dust crystals with odd colors to them. She wore black capris with a white stripe going down the left side. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail to bring out the color in her red eyes, and it worked very well.

"I take it that it was you who practically saved our lives?" Steel asked.

"Don't stand on an idle ceremony just yet, there's still an invasion going on, remember?" She said.

"You guys okay? Blake asked running up to them.

"Yeah, we're good." Steel waved back.

"Okay, we'll get onto your feet, they're starting to break our second line already thanks to them blowing a giant hole in the wall!" Blake stated and ran back to help the others.

"Mag, can you stand?" Rusty asked offering her a hand.

"I,...I think so." Mag said allowing Rusty to pull her onto her feet.

"Try not to push yourself too much." Steel said handing her Trick Fouet.

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of fight left in me." Mag said stretching out her back.

"Besides, it's my job to push you, if you catch my drift." Rusty said giving a wink.

"I'm in absolutely no mood to deal with this right now, Rusty." Mag sighed in agony.

"You don't want to hit me? Yes! I am making progress with you at last!" Rusty said, throwing his fist into the air.

"Shut up." Mag said giving Rusty a death glare. She was still feeling a little dizzy from almost knocking herself out due to her teleportation.

"So happy to see that absolutely nothing has changed between you two." Steel smiled.

"Hey, get your butts over here, we need help." Teal shouted as he shot at the grimm in front of him. They could just barely hear him over the loud noises of grimm and shouts.

"Well, I guess we should get moving." Rusty sighed.

"I swear, that if you say anything about my butt, I will kill you." Mag said in a glare toward Rusty.

"What? Me? Talk about you in such a manner? I wouldn't think of it." Rusty said in a false dismissive tone. Mag shot him a more piercing glare before he cracked up.

"Okay, maybe I would think of it." Rusty said avoiding her gaze.

"I, am, going, to, hit, you!" Mag said tensing up.

"Okay Rome, Jule, we should go." Steel stepping in between the two.

"Fine," Mag said rolling her eyes. She gave out a sigh and started walking toward the action.

"Well, do you think she likes me?" Rusty asked.

"Likes, maybe. I'd say tolerates you though." Steel replied.

"Well, progress can be slow with things like this." Rusty said optimistically.

"It's taken almost a year for you to talk to her without her having a disgusted look in her face, or her hitting you. In spite of recent events, yeah, I'd say that you're making progress." Steel nodded.

"Fuck yeah!" Rusty shouted throwing a fist up into the air.

"Alright, now that you're all pumped up, let's go kick some grimm in the ass." Steel smiled.

"Okay, I'll fight for that. Oh, and don't think I've just forgotten what you did to her." Rusty said before running to the front lines.

"Yeah, I haven't forgiven myself either." Steel said quietly before following behind Rusty. The two ran up to the front lines with team RWBY, ABEX, Cloud, Adam, Oriana, and the rest of the White Fang.

* * *

The battle was going well for the huntsmen for a while, until Griffins and Nevermores began to show up. They began to dive bomb the front lines grabbing anyone unlucky enough to be in their path. They would pick anyone in their path up and drop them from a high height on the other side of the wall. If the person didn't die from the fall, then they would be trampled by the grimm horde before they could get up. Because of this, the huntsmen and everyone else was being pushed back at an alarming rate.

Once the main gate had fallen, the people formed a semicircle around the concrete wall's remains in order to prevent any grimm from slipping through. The airborne grimm weren't helping at all, and now they were pushed back half a kilometer from the wall with the grimm forces seeing no ending.

"This is ridiculous! Why are there so many of these damn things?!" Nile asked in a frenzy.

He had just cut an Ursa in half with his longsword before the blade split in half and pulled backwards, shooting a string from one edge to the other creating a bow. He fired an arrow at a Nevermore that was flying over the city, stunning it with lightning dust that was infused into the arrow. The nevermore crashed into the mountain that was surrounding the city, killing it.

"What's the matter Nile? Are you scared?" Elm asked drop kicking a beowolf.

"Yeah, I thought you loved killing Grimm." Xplat said beating a creep over the head with her elbow.

"Who cares, let's just kill these things!" Yang shouted over them blocking a Beowolf from hitting her with Ember Celica.

"Weiss, on your left!" Ruby yelled. .

"Thanks!" Weiss replied stabbing a Beowolf through the mouth and piercing it's brain.

She flipped off of a glyph that she had placed at her feet in order to dodge another beowolf coming from her front which was shot in the chest by Teal. Cloud had stabbed an Ursa in the chest that was about to pounce on Teal with his trident and pulled the blade out and thrusted at another putting the blade right at it's neck. He pressed a button on the handle and the blade shot out stabbing it.

"Wake up, Pariwinkle!" Washington shouted, flipping over an Alpha Beowolf and simultaneously ripping its head off it's neck.

He then threw it into another Alpha and tripped it. While it was down, he jumped into the air and crushed its head on the way down. Even after the hunter's display and the valiant efforts of everyone else, the Grimm still seemed to be pushing them back. People with ranged weapons would take out airborne Grimm whenever they could, and everyone else was trying their damndest to hold the beasts back on the ground.

"Blake, watch out!" Yang shouted, firing at the Nevermore that was making a dash straight for her.

Blake looked up and began firing at the large bird, but the shots just seemed to ricochet off it;s body. She dodged to the side just narrowly avoiding its sharp talons and continued firing at it. It was then where she noticed two figures attached to the back of it connected by strings and chains.

"Yeah, ride that mother fucker Aroya!" Elm shouted giving a thumbs up her way, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

"Hey, try to get to this things neck, I'll target the body." Aroya said to Oriana who was holding onto the beast with all her might.

"Yeah, I got it, ex." Oriana replied beginning to real herself in. She reached the bird's backside.

"Oh, so you do know who I am, Oriana." Aroya smiled pulling herself up as well. Aroya planted her blade into the Nevermore's back causing it to cry out in pain. Oriana shot one of her grapple gauntlet's hooks into the Bird's neck. It began to dive bomb in an attempt to get the two girls off, but they were attached very tightly to the bird's skin.

"Hope you have a landing strategy!" Aroya said bracing herself to jump off. Oriana smiled and gave a thumbs up. The bird attempted to level out but couldn't in time and crashed into an office building. Oriana and Aroya jumped off and landed on their feet. They high fived and ran to go rejoin the fight. Before they had left, they had some ground still, but in the past seven minutes since they boarded the Nevermore, they had lost almost two street blocks of distance and were being progressively pushed back to Haven academy.

"Where on the face of Remnant did Qrow disappear to!?" Cloud asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since the fighting started." Clancy replied stabbing a Beowolf in the eye.

"Teal, can you find Qrow?" Steel asked in response to Cloud's question.

"Cover me, and I will see what I can do." Teal said cutting into an Ursa.

"Okay, Ruby." Steel called out. In a wave of rose petals, Ruby appeared in front of him as soon as he called.

"Yes." Ruby smiled as she shot at a bunch of incoming grimm.

"I need team RWBY to help us cover Teal while he finds your uncle." Steel said while firing some rounds with her at a small pack of beowolves.

"Okay, I'll go get them." Ruby replied giving a thumbs up. She then sprinted off to go find her teammates who were a little way down the field.

"Something's bothering me, though." Rusty said cutting into a creeps chest.

"What's that?" Steel asked swinging his battle axe, decapitating a Beowolf.

"We've only really been seeing Creeps, Beowolves, Ursa's, and _one_ King Taijitu." Rusty said scratching his head.

"Oh, so she is in this fight." Washington smiled.

"Who?" Steel asked.

"One of my teammates, her name is Primrosa." Wash smiled while punching an Ursa major sending it flying.

"She's been taking out the larger Grimm?" Mag asked jumping over a creep, landing on it, and stabbing it through the neck.

"Oh yeah, not like anyone really sees her though. She's one who likes to keep to the shadows." Washington explained.

"Okay, we're here!" Ruby shouted running up with the rest of team RWBY.

"Alright, cover me!" Teal said closing his eyes.

Teams STRM and RWBY formed a semicircle around Teal while his body glowed with his aura. His face changed from being content to frustrated very quickly before his eyes snapped open.

"Did you find him?" Weiss asked as she leaped off of a Beowolf.

"No, but I know that he isn't dead. I honestly have no idea where he is." Teal shrugged and pulled out Piana Morska again from its sheathe on his leg.

"So he just left the nest then?" Yang asked, blowing a Creep's brains out of it's head.

"I don't know where he went, but he's alive somewhere because his aura would still be radiating a little from his body were he dead." Teal explained.

"Incoming!" A shout rang out from one of the students of Haven. There was a large tremor as a giant Death Stalker burst through a building collapsing it on a group of people.

"We've got this." Ruby said nodding to Steel.

"Oh yeah we do." Steel smiled back.

"Blake, Mag, Weiss, Teal. Target those legs!" Ruby shouted while loading a round into the chamber of Crescent Rose

"Yang, Rusty, focus on keeping those pincers away from Ruby and I while we take out the stinger." Steel added.

"Right!" They all said at once, and took off toward the Death Stalker.

"This will be just like the forest, remember." Ruby smiled.

"Exactly, those were good times." Steel said in agreement. Both of them leapt into the air to distract the Death Stalker while everyone else focused on the front. The Death Stalker took the bait and focused on the two of them. While it tried to focus on them, the rest of the group targeted the pincers and legs.

"Alright, it worked!" Ruby exclaimed happily.

The Death Stalker suddenly let out a blood curtling screech at a near deafening tone. The Death Stalker suddenly focused on Yang and Rusty and knocked the two of them back sending them flying into a wall.

"Shit! Get away!" Steel shouted as he and Ruby landed behind the giant scorpion.

The Death Stalker turned around nearly trampling the four hunters in training as it turned. The four of them dived out of the way just in time to see the beast bring down it's stinger on the two leaders. The two attempted to dive out of the way, but Ruby was tripped by one of the legs and rolled into a light pole while the Death Stalker went after Steel.

"Well, that's very inconvenient." Steel said trying to get onto his feet.

The stinger pierced the ground very close behind him as he dived again only to meet one of its pincers, launching Steel into the building right behind him.

"Steel!" Mag shouted trying to get his attention.

The pincer was already right above Steel on the downswing and about to pierce his chest. That was until the Death Stalker's head was cut off by a large man with dark wolf ears poking through his black hair, standing at about eight feet tall and carrying what looked like a shepherd's crook with a blade on the curve. He was wearing a very light amount of clothing, as in black jeans and black fingerless leather gloves.

"Hey, next time you kids want to take on a Deathstalker, make sure that you can actually kill it." He said giving his back a stretch.

"Uh, thank you." Steel said wide eyed.

"No problem, just trying to have some fun." He smiled giving a thumbs up and ran off.

"Steel, are you okay?" Mag asked running up to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Steel said getting onto his feet.

"I'm sorry, I... I couldn't get you out, you almost died because I couldn't teleport to get you. I felt myself feel faint as I tried and I couldn't get you." Mag said with tears forming in her eyes.

"Whoa, Mag, it's okay, I'm fine, see." Steel said putting his hands on her shoulders.

"But if you died, it would've been my fault." Mag said looking him in the eye.

"But, I didn't, did I?" Steel smiled with a pant showing how exhausted he really was.

"I guess you're right." Mag said taking a breath.

"Okay, split it up you two." Elm said stepping in between the two.

"Hey, what gives, Elm?" Mag asked with a questioning look on her face.

"If I don't ship it, it don't happen, got it?" Elm said looking into her eyes menacingly.

"What are you talking about?" Mag asked taking a step back.

"You'll understand someday, but I don't ship it, so you don't get a moment." Elm said with a smile.

"You two alright?" Rusty asked walking up to the group and standing beside Mag.

"You see, now that's a ship I can get behind." Elm said making a fake photo frame with his hands around Rusty and Mag.

"Would you guys get off your asses and help us out here!" Aroya shouted at the group causing everyone to jump.

"Alright, let's go protect this city." Ruby said limping up to the group.

"Okay, pipsqueak, you should sit out for a while." Elm said pointing to the limp in her leg.

"Golia-!" A shout cried out before being silenced by the large mammoth twice the size of the ones that had broken the wall. The large beast spotted them, and began to charge at full speed.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" Elm shouted at the top of his lungs.

"When will this nightmare end?" Mag sighed bringing up Trick Fouet defensively.

"Okay, first of all, it's more day than night right now. Secondly, nightmare? More like daydream" Elm smiled happily.

"When it comes to Grimm, nothing phases you, does it?" Aroya asked.

"Ruby, get away from that thing!" Yang shouted pulling Ruby out of the beasts path.

"You're all, kids, right." Elm sighed taking a step toward the goliath. The beast roared and continued bounding toward Elm primarily and whatever else was in its path.

"Well, I've never killed something as big as you surprisingly. But, there's a first time for everything." Elm said channeling his aura into his arm to ready his semblance. Within seconds the ground began to shake and debris started to lift off the ground.

"Elm, be careful. You know what will happen if you exert too much power" Clancy said batting away a Beowolf with his bowie knife, Tennuka.

"Don't worry, this big fuck won't know what hit him." Elm said with a determined thumbs up.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Clancy shuttered.

"Okay, let's send you to the moon, shall we?" Elm said starting to run toward the beast. In a loud shout, Elm's fist and the Goliath's head met causing a noise like a sound grenade, and caused a large shockwave. For a split second, it looked like nothing happened, until the beast went flying farther than the eye could see.

"Yeah, swing batter, batter." Nile smiled happily.

"Elm, are you alright?" Clancy asked stepping toward Elm. Elm's arm flopped to his side and he had a look of terror on his face.

"Clancy, remember last time how I broke my arm when I punched something that hard?" Elm asked turning his head toward him.

"Yeah, you were swearing for a month afterward. I'm surprised that you managed to pull that off actually." Clancy smiled.

"Well, here's the thing, last time it hurt like hell, now, I can't feel anything in my arm at all." Elm said looking down at his arm, but there was definitely something wrong with it.

"Elm, take it easy, you're arm's a little busted up right now." Teal said with fear.

"Oh, so that's why I can't move it." Elm said feeling a bit woozy.

"He's going into shock, someone catch him before he falls." Steel shouted, within a second, Aroya came rushing over right as he fell and caught Elm in her arms.

"What happened to him?" Clancy asked in a slight panic.

Teal let out a sigh and looked at Clancy and the rest of team ABEX.

"I hate to break it to you, but he just shattered the bones in his arm. There is almost nothing there but dust and a few shards of bone."

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Well, writing without knowing if you've spelt something right or not is really scary, but I guess that's what I get for writing most of this at the lake._

 _Red Moose:_ I have the rope you get the tape.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Done.**

 _RedMoose:_ *looks on at Spartan25798 and Mag tied to chairs* Took you long enough!

 _Me: Why, why must you do this to us?_

 _RedMoose:_ *Pulls out a switchblade* So, you know what's neat about this limbo of earth and remnant? We have both Earth aspects and Remnant aspects, soooo guess what. *walks over to Spartan25798 and stabs the chair in front of his groin* I can do stuff like this. *sends a semblance enhanced punch straight to Spartan25798's groin* so satisfying.

 _Mag:_ Uh, I don't know why you think I am at all contained here, but I can tell you you're wrong.

 _Me: Yeah, what was the point of doing this to her?_

 _RedMoose:_ Shhhh, or the next is an anal switchblade. See the thing about this limbo is that things like aura and semblances are very unreliable so you could try to teleport or you could try to outrun the a GM6 Lynx bullet.

 _Mag:_ I just want to point out that you're trying to hit a teleporting target whom you can't kill with a single shot, with a sniper rifle, in the middle of a small room. That's like having two bases of good guys and bad guys, in the middle of a boxed canyon.

 _RedMoose:_ *Walks over to Mag, starts to throw a punch*

 _Mag:_ Yeah, I don't know how many times you've met Rusty, but you're a lot less scary than he is. Trust me on that one. *Sighs*

 _Me: Okay, what is the point of all this again? I must've missed the memo._

 _Red moose:_ You and little miss brainchild, have been having some forbidden love while we sit here waiting for you to show up to something you planned.

 _Me: What on Earth and Remnant gives you that idea?_

 _RedMoose:_ Did you even read the top authors notes?

 _Me: Huh, you actually can read. I'm impressed. But just because she got me here on time because I was running late doesn't mean that we were doing anything._

 _RedMoose:_ Let me use the phrase Backup Waifu, that is Mag. *Looks at Mag* your his back up, his silver medal, his plan b. He is more interested in Blake than you. #WANTSTOFUCKBLAKE, however rwbyfan5 has beat him to it.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY NAMED JETT WITH HER HE IS A YEAR OLD AND HAS ALREADY KILLED HIS FIRST BEOWOLF. DO** _ **NOT**_ **TELL ME OTHERWISE.**

 _RedMoose_ : He is then. *Cuts roof off of house* FUCKING LAZER PENS... ok I feel better now.

 _Me: Didn't we establish that his dimension and ours intersected, but they're not the same?_

 _RedMoose:_ Let's call Blake Forge and ask her.

 _Me: In this world… Her name is Blake Belladonna, in his, it's that. I think you see-_

 _RedMoose:_ Through the powers vested in me by being a fucking badass, I hereby pronounce you man and neko wife.

 _Me: Those are non-existent actually. Also, you have no power over me._

 _RedMoose: *Cuts the very fabric of reality*_ Fuck you I'm destroying reality.

 _Everyone else:_ _ **Not again RedMoose**_

 _Me: Okay, everyone calm down. Let's all calm down and have RedMoose untie us, shall we?_

 _RedMoose: No, you stay right where you are._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **MURDER FOR THE MURDER-NOX!**

 _Me: now let's just calm down and-_

RedMoose: Unfortunately, it must wait till the next chapter.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **MURDER FOR TH-**

 _* has crashed._

 _*Please reload and try again._

*That, or wait for the next chapter.


	30. Some Severed Connections

_**A.N.:**_ **-E MURDER-NOX!**

 _Me: Hey! We got the AN's working again. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one._

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Pounces on Spartan25798 and begins to cut his throat open* MURDER FOR THE MURDER-NOX!**

 _Me: rwbyfan5, could you stop trying to cut through my aura please… This kind of feels, odd to say the least._

 _Mag:_ Okay, if you guys don't need me, I'll be leaving now.

 _RedMoose_ : No, stay, it's better here, you can help.

 _Mag:_ Uh, with what exactly?

 _RedMoose_ : The torture of Spartan25798, I mean come on he tried to fuck you, and probably has in his dreams ;)

 _Me: And you have proof of any of that? how exactly?_

 _RedMoose:_ Hey man, what you do in your head is your own business.

 _Me: So basically, you're just making assumptions about me._

 _RedMoose:_ You are a teenage boy who is raging on hormones, It kinda explains itself. Right Yang?

 _Yang:_ Wh-what? I have no idea what you're talking about.

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Is still trying to sacrifice Spartan25798 to the Glorious and All-Powerful Nox, praised be her name, by repeatedly stabbing his throat with RedMoose's pen.***

 _RedMoose:_ If you press the top button, the laser activates.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **MURDER FOR THE MURDER-NOX! *Presses the top button while chanting something in a long dead language.***

 _Me: Oh, fuck that hurts! Mag, could you do something?_

 _Mag: Sorry Spartan, I have to do this thing and uhhhh, oh would you look at the time it's sunset better be back or Glinda will flay me alive. *Teleports the fuck out of there*_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Sacrifice intensifies* *Chanting intensifies* *Intensity intensifies***

 _Me: Well, only one thing to do here… *Ends top authors' notes*_

* * *

 **Some Severed Connections**

* * *

"Oh, god. How did this happen?" Clancy asked in a panic.

"He punched a Grimm way to hard," Ruby said stating the obvious.

"That was rhetorical," Clancy said.

"Steel, can you do anything?" Weiss asked while scanning for any incoming Grimm.

"Cuts, I can handle, bones are a little tougher, but still doable, and even if we hadn't spent the past two hours defending the kingdom and I was well rested. Regrowing bones from dust is pretty much out of the question for me unfortunately." Steel sighed.

"But the shards of bone in his arm could travel up into his body and cause a hemorrhage, couldn't it?" Clancy asked.

"I'll keep it from doing that for the time being, but I don't know for how long I can maintain doing so."

"What happened, why do I feel like shit, and why is there the face of an angel before my eyes?" Elm said with a painful moan.

"Awww." Aroya cooed.

"Take it easy Elm, try not to move." Xplat said.

"You know, when I saw the angel, I thought I was in heaven, but, now that I see Xplat, I know I'm either alive or in hell." Elm sighed.

"Even on your possible death bed, you're still a total dick." Xplat groaned, shaking her head slowly.

"Elm, you're in really bad shape right now, and we might have to cut off what remains of your right arm." Clancy stated, trying to act calm.

"If it's necessary, fuck it, I don't care. Cut the whole damn thing off if you have to." Elm smiled before passing out again.

"You know, he didn't specify which arm." Xplat said as a devious smile spread across her face.

"Cut off the wrong arm and I will hunt you for all eternity." Aroya growled, crouching over Elm protectively.

"Hurry up, the shards aren't coming back together and they're trying to make their way into his chest." Steel warned.

"Just fucking cut this arm off already!" Wash shouted.

"Okay, uh, who wants to do it?" Nile asked.

"Are you asking who's going to cut the arm off?" Clancy

"I want the pipsqueak to do it." Elm said groggily before passing out one last time.

"Ruby? Are you okay with this?" Yang asked.

"I guess," Ruby sighed, unsheathing Crescent Rose into its scythe form.

"Okay, prop him up then." Clancy sighed.

"Hurry, these bone shards are really difficult to keep them where they should be." Steel said while his aura glowed.

"Okay, I'm ready." Ruby said taking a deep breath and put the scythe blade up to Elm's boneless arm.

"It's okay Ruby, whenever you're ready." Aroya said in a slightly impatient tone.

"Right." Ruby said closing her eyes. She could feel the trigger by her fingertips, and she knew that as soon as she heard the bang, there was no going back. She then took a quick breath and pulled the trigger. There was a cry of mild pain coming from Elm that Ruby could hear, but she didn't dare look back at what she did. Ruby began to start breathing heavily and she shut her eyes tightly.

"Hey, you did it Ruby, it's okay, everything's fine now." Yang said running to her side and pulling her into a hug.

"No, i-it's not. What d-did I j-just do Yang?" Ruby asked on the brink of tears.

"You just saved his life Ruby, it's okay." Yang said with a comforting tone.

"I, uh, don't mean to interrupt, but we're still under attack here." Weiss said raising Myrtenaster.

"We need to evac Elm back to the school, he's not really doing so well, for uh, obvious reasons." Clancy stated.

"Hush you," Weiss snapped pointing at Ruby.

"Oh! Right, sorry." Clancy sighed.

"Can I have a hand moving this guy, despite how well he can move, he still weighs a ton." Aroya said trying to pick Elm up.

"Aroya and I will do this, the rest of you just try to protect what ground we have left in the city." Washington sighed.

"W-what? Hey f-fuck you guys, you're all drunk!" Elm slurred groggily.

"Did you give him any painkillers?" Wash asked.

"Oh, I thought he was always like this when he was tired. I guess he's just really good at dealing with pain." Aroya chuckled.

"What do you mean by that?" Washington asked with a scowl.

"Hey-y, still drunk I see. Gha, fuck it!" Elm said before passing out again.

"He's getting worse, we need to move him, now!" Aroya spoke up.

"Don't worry about us, we'll keep this area secure, I hope." Steel said raising his battle axe.

"Okay, let's go." Wash said picking Elm up by the feet while Aroya got his arm and neck.

"This feels odd." Aroya said.

"Okay, screw it, you just come with me." Wash said pulling Elm away from Aroya's arms and carried him over his shoulders by his feet.

"These things are still coming at an even more rampant pace." Cloud said backing into the group.

"Ruby, are you going to be able to fight?" Weiss asked calmly.

"I, I think so." Ruby nodded showing a small amount of confidence.

"No, you still have that injured leg from the Death Stalker." Yang said protectively.

"So what? You want me to just run to Haven?" Ruby asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, you can snipe back here at a distance." Steel said pointing up to a three story building about half a block back.

"Okay, I'll get there." Ruby smiled.

"Oh boy, here we go. Brace yourselves!" Oriana shouted as a large Nevermore swooped over them creating a whirlwind in its wake.

"Oh, speed boost!" Ruby smiled jumping into the wind allowing it to carry her backwards.

"These things just don't know when to quit, do they?" Rusty asked.

"You know, I don't think it's them who should learn to quit sometimes." Mag said with a cold glare.

"I will never stop! There is absolutely no way to get me down." Rusty boasted.

"Well, there is gravity and all that." Yang sighed.

"Aside from that, nothing will bring me down." Rusty said rolling his eyes.

"What about a sword to the gut? Will that bring you down?" Mag asked with a smile.

"Oh! What about a broken femur? That seemed to get you down!" Yang said enthusiastically.

"What is this? The bring down Rusty club?" Rusty asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"That's a good name actually." Mag nodded.

"Could you guys knock it off! We still have a kingdom to defend! Steel said rushing past them and flipped himself into the air so that his axe would land in a Beowolf's neck. He completed the flip and pulled the axe blade out to swing at another Beowolf that was lunging at him.

"We'll talk about this later." Mag sighed and flipped her katana over to shoot a Creep that was stalking up beside them.

"We've got to hold our ground, or we'll be pushed back to the school in no time flat." Cloud said pulling his trident out of an Ursa major's chest.

"So, we've got an entire army of Grimm wanting to tear all of us to shreds, a handful of hunters and hunters in training, and even more untrained civilians with the best weapons looking like pitchforks, and kitchen knives. This is just perfect." Yang sighed, punching a Beowolf and filling its gut with a large dust round.

"That about sums all of this up, yeah." Weiss said, stabbing a Boarbatusk through the head. Weiss heard a growl behind her and turned to see a Beowolf jumping at her. Suddenly, a bullet shot through the beast's neck. When Weiss turned, she could see a faint glare from a sniper scope in a building a block back.

"That's my sister for you." Yang smiled, while at the same time blasting an Ursa's chest open.

"Yang, keep your wits about you." Teal said cutting a Creep in half that was sneaking up on her.

"Practice what you-" Rusty started about to shoot a Beowolf that was sneaking up on Teal, before Teal turned and shot the Grimm in the chest.

"Sorry, what was that Rusty? I couldn't hear you? I've got to keep my wits about me after all." Teal said holding back a smile that was sneaking its way onto his face.

"Okay, what the fuck? Is this like pick on, and make fun of Rusty day or something?" he shouted forcefully throwing his arms into the air.

"Yes, yes it is, how very observant of you Rusty." Mag smiled kicking a Beowolf off of a civilian male.

"Okay, I'm just going to leave now, is that alright with everyone?" Rusty shrugged.

"Heads up Rusty!" Teal shouted throwing a Creep off of himself.

"What?" Rusty asked turning to be tackled by a Beowolf.

"I warned you." Teal sighed.

"Fuck, this, shit!" Rusty shouted deploying his semblance knocking the Beowolf off of him. He got a grip on his weapon and flipped it so the barrel was pointed at the Grimm. He pulled the trigger on the gun and blasted the Beowolf's head off with a shotgun shell.

"Hey, not bad, I didn't even need to save you." Mag smiled.

"Shut up, I took a knife for you!" Rusty snapped back.

"You did, huh, I think I remember that now that you mention it." Mag nodded.

"Good, you know that I can't be mad at you, right?" Rusty smiled.

"Oh, really? I'll be sure to take advantage of that next time." Mag smiled in a deep breath.

"Hey, I'll let you take advantage of me anytime." Rusty said with a wink.

"Uh, don't mean to cut in but, are the Grimm retreating? By that, I meant that there are a lot less of them right now." Blake asked.

"Keep fighting, we've almost got them beat!" Rusty shouted with enthusiasm with multiple other shouts of confidence breaking out everywhere. They actually managed to kill off the last of the Grimm that were rushing at them after about five hard minutes of fighting. Everyone was relieved that it was finally over and the mood around the kingdom lightened a lot. There was suddenly a loud noise that people began to notice from behind them, when everyone turned, they were greeted by the site of one of General James Ironwood's battleships looming over Haven about a dozen blocks back along the incline that Mistral was on.

"Wow, that's where the school is in relation to here? Another hour and we would've been finished" Rusty sighed and collapsed in a tired heap.

"Truth there, I'll give you that one," Mag smiled and offered him a hand up.

"We should help any injured people back there." Weiss suggested, formally sheathing Myrtenaster.

"Well, we shouldn't be too quick to judge. There could still be more of them out there." Blake said with a quiet sigh.

"Okay, you keep watch for them, I'm going to head back and get some R and R," Rusty sighed.

"No, we need to help the people get back home safely." Steel said with a limp in his step.

"Yeah, I agree, they need to come first." Mag nodded with a sigh.

"Alright, I'll go tell everyone to get ready to go to Haven." Yang said.

"Wait,do you guys hear that?" Steel asked as his wolf ears began to twitch.

"No, what are you talking about." Rusty asked listening carefully.

"This isn't over, you know that, right?" Adam asked, walking up to Blake.

"But everyone here is exhausted, they're all either injured or too tired to move." Blake whispered.

"Whoa, what are you talking about. We just won didn't we?" Mag asked.

"Look, I know that you aren't as attuned to hearing, but these noises are not from normal Grimm, or rather, not the normal sized Grimm." Adam sighed.

"Okay, so do we get ready to fight again?" Rusty asked with a groan.

"No, if this is going the way I think it is, we should prepare to run." Blake sighed with regret.

"Wait, but if we run, we've go no where to go." Mag pointed out.

"I've got that covered, I've sent a messenger to the school to tell them to land the air destroyer and start evacuating civilians." Adam stated readying his sword.

There was a loud roar that everyone heard and they turned to see multiple large Grimm like Alpha Beowolves, Ursa Majors, Giant Death Stalkers and large Goliaths.

"Oh shit!" Rusty shouted taking several steps back.

"Everyone, run back to the school!" Cloud said, sheathing his trident.

No one was arguing, there was no way that they could take on this many powerful Grimm with this few hunters. People began to run backward toward the school while any huntsmen and huntresses covered them as they passed with the White Fang helping too. They all fired into the incoming horde. When they could do no more damage, they all ran after the civilians.

"Shit, Ruby's still in the tower!" Yang shouted.

"Okay, I'll get her!" Mag yelled back and sheathed Trick Fouet in the weapon sheath on her back. She jumped into the air and appeared behind Ruby, she grabbed onto Ruby's shoulder and they appeared in front of the rushing group. Ruby's limp appeared to be gone now from her aura beginning to heal the minor injury. Mag suddenly fell forward to the left side of Ruby into some grass.

"Mag!" Rusty shouted rushing to her side.

"Grab her, we need to run!" Blake said running past him.

Rusty didn't argue, he slung her over his back in a piggyback like form and ran with her to try to get to the school. Nobody dared to look back as people were getting grabbed by large talons from the air and being carried away. Everyone's last bit of adrenaline was in full gear as they sprinted to the school where the large airship appeared to have landed. It was not an easy run either as it was mostly uphill and it allowed both Griffins and Nevermores to grab people easier, but they all kept running. They knew if they stopped, they were dead. People began to arrive at the school and run to the airship to reconvene with their families. Cloud suddenly stopped after he ran through the last archway that lead to the landing zone. Nobody could tell what was going on and ran passed him to get onto the carrier.

"Professor Periwinkle! Please get on board." A voice shouted coming from the ship.

"Take off, I'll buy you all some time, but it's not a lot, so hurry!" Cloud shouted, everyone ran on board including teams STRM and RWBY. The ship was jam packed with people and it was nearly impossible to move through the interior, but people managed somehow. Cloud was still outside and the Grimm were closing in on the archway.

"Go!" He shouted holding up his hands, suddenly, multiple rocks began to form near the archway to create a barrier that appeared to keeping the Grimm out. The air was filled with fire from the airships canons that were taking out aerial Grimm that charged the ship. The ship's engines began to start up and the main doorway began to seal up.

The doors closed up and Cloud smiled.

"To the students of Haven academy, I am sorry to announce, that this once great kingdom has fallen to the creatures of Grimm. Or, I would say this to you all, but I won't be making it back to you this time, I am sorry." Cloud said calmly before the barrier he had made of rock began to crumble under the Grimm's claws.

* * *

When Rusty entered the airship, he was lead by a medic to a separate room to treat Mag who was still unconscious. As he stepped through the doorway he saw people on beds in various states of bandages and casts. The medic lead him to a bed where he set Mag down.

"She exhausted all her aura, with a little rest she will be as good as new," the medic said as he walked out.

"Hey," a hoarse voice behind him said.

Turning around he saw the tired face of the odd woman Aroya. "Hey, is Elm doing ok?" Rusty asked.

"The doctors won't be entirely sure till he wakes up," Aroya said looking up at Rusty.

It was then that Rusty was able to see that her eyes were red and puffy like she had just been crying.

"Are you ok?" Rusty asked hesitantly.

"No, n-no I'm not, h-he's all I have, and I m-might lose him," Aroya said sobbing.

"Shh there, there he's going to be ok he is tough, if anyone can, Elm will," Rusty said pulling the sobbing woman into an embrace.

"Thanks, I think I will go find Wash, he will probably want to wait with me." Aroya said walking out of the room.

"Well, I feel a little more depressed now." Rusty sighed and walked back over to where Mag was lying down. She was still breathing which was a very good sign, and looked peaceful just lying there.

"Wow, that turned into a shit show really quickly." Rusty sighed.

"That's just because you were there." Mag said quietly from her bed.

"Nice to see that you're awake. Did I ever tell you how beautiful your eyes were?" Rusty smiled alongside a quiet laugh

"So how did I get here? The last thing I remember was teleporting Ruby back then passing out," Mag said rubbing her head.

"Well, I uh sort of carried you on my back all the way back to the airship," Rusty said quietly scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, well in that case thank you." Mag said, then shortly afterward hugged her shoulders and shivered.

"Okay seriously how can you go from thanking me for saving your life then to shivering because I touched you?" Rusty asked, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Well um you see it's because I-," Mag said only to be cut off by Elm in his groggy state, "HEY! You two should fuck, like seriously," before passing out again.

"Oh man Aroya is going to be so fucking pissed if I don't go tell her that Elm woke up, try to get some rest we will talk about this tomorrow," Rusty said running out the door.

"Love you," Mag groggily and quietly whispered, after Rusty left.

"Awwww, that's, that's s-so nice," Elm slurred looking over at Mag.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" Mag asked, "And slightly drunk too," she added afterwards.

"Shh, as your uncle Qrow would say, there is a difference between drunk and utterly fucking exhausted," Elm said trying and failing to hold a finger up to Mag's lips

"Do you mean Ruby?" Mag questioned.

"Aren't you the small red one? Wait no you're the larger purple one," Elm said before laying down. Mag gave him an odd look before lying down again as well

"W-wait, what d-did I just say?" Mag shot up.

"Wh-wh-what? Oh, yeah, you said you love him." Elm said before falling back asleep.

" _D-did I really say that to him? What's going on? Now that I think about it, Why?"_ Mag thought to herself before she fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

"I swear he was awake!" Rusty said as they walked into the room.

"Elm, hey, Elm, are you awake?" Aroya asked half sprinting up to his bedside.

"Huh?" Elm said opening his eyes a bit.

"Oh my god, I'm so happy you're alright!" Aroya exclaimed pulling him into a hug on his bed.

"Is there a reason that I can't feel my arm?" Elm asked.

Aroya let out a gasp and looked at the bandages around the stump that used to be Elm's arm and backed up a little bit. Elm looked down at his arm in a more realistic mindset and his eyes went wide.

"Oh, okay, shit must've got really fucked up then." Elm sighed.

"That's one way of putting it I guess." Rusty sighed.

"Come to think of it, when I woke up before, I remember her saying something about you." Elm said groggily.

"Really? Good, bad, what was it? I must know." Rusty asked anxiously.

"Meh, from what I can remember, it was good, I think, who knows, my brain was drunk as fuck." Elm sighed.

"Well, it's nice to see you're alright." Rusty smiled and turned to face Mag's bed where she was sleeping soundly.

"If you ever need me to be a wingman for you, just let me know." Elm said raising his stumpy limb. "Oh, right, no thumbs up with this hand yet." He chuckled.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." Rusty said.

"You will never change, huh?" Aroya asked kneeling down beside his bed.

"Nope, it's not in my blood, besides, who wouldn't want to be me?" Elm smiled.

"Damn, do I ever want a cup of coffee," Elm said breaking a growing silence.

"I'll go get you some," Aroya said standing up and walking out the room.

"I think team RWBY wanted to see how you were doing, I'll go get them," Rusty said leaving the room.

* * *

"I'm sure he won't be mad," Yang said consoling her nervous sister. The airship that carried more than half of a city had landed close to the ocean with water encasing them. Guards and Atlesian soldiers were stationed outside the large airship and were patrolling the treeline for any signs of Grimm activity.

"A-are you sure?" Ruby said looking at the ground, fidgeting with her hands.

"Yes," Yang said turning the corner.

As the team approached the medical ward they heard a familiar voice.

"Shit, fuck, tits, balls, crap, fuck, tits, shit, owwwwwww," They heard coming from the back corner of the medical ward.

"Uh, I think that he's mad." Ruby shivered.

"Excuse me, may we come in?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, just don't mind the mess,"Elm said through the door.

"Uh, mister Elm, I just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing." Ruby said as they walked in. They were surprised to see Elm on the ground with coffee spilled all over his clothes.

"Whoa, what happened?" Yang asked holding back a chuckle.

"I REACHED WITH THE GOD DAMN WRONG ARM! It's very hard to have a missing arm." Elm shouted shoving himself up to his feet.

"I, um, wanted to t-talk t-to y-ou a-about s-s-something, Mr. E-Elm." Ruby said shyly.

"Oh, and what's that, pipsqueak? Hey, do you know who cut my arm off? My memory's all foggy." Elm smiled, "Wait, no don't tell me, I'm imagining something beautiful and epic… and now brutal reality has kicked in. Okay, give it to me straight." Elm said hesitantly.

"W-well, uh, I wanted to talk to you about your arm." Ruby said quietly avoiding his gaze.

"Oh, that thing. Yeah, I guess I can be one fourth of the man my dad is. Well, at least at some point." Elm smiled.

"What?" Yang asked in surprise.

"You know, I'll have one fourth of the robotic limbs that he has." Elm chuckled.

"Y-you're not mad about your arm?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I said that at some point I'd amputate the arms anyway, and that's one out of two, so no, not really." Elm thought.

"Well, that's a relief." Ruby sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Elm asked.

"Well, it was in the heat of the moment, and you crushed the bones in your arm, SoToSaveYourLifeIHadToCutYourArmOffAndIWasReallyScaredButYou'reNotMadSoIFeelBetter." Ruby sighed from being out of breath.

"Oh my god! You're a smaller, more mature me! I'm actually kind of proud." Elm said coming to a sudden realization.

"I was so scared because I did that, but I knew it was for the best. So I did it." Ruby said innocently.

"She just needed to clear her conscience up, so logically, we came to see you." Yang added

"Oh, well consider no harm done. Let me go buy you some cookies, milk, and one free weapon tune up coupon as a token of my gratitude while I get new clothes and more coffee," Elm said scribbling, " _Free weapon tune up,_ " on some paper and handing it to Ruby.

"Wow that's some nice writing for your off hand," Yang said looking at the slip of paper.

"Oh yeah, I'm ambidextrous, bullshit like a missing arm isn't going to stop me" Elm said skipping barefoot out of the room.

"The more you know, I guess." Yang shrugged.

"Hey, keep it down out there, people are trying to rest." A familiar voice said from behind a curtain.

"Rusty? Is that you?" Yang asked stepping forward. She stepped inside the room to see Mag still asleep and Rusty in a chair beside her bed.

"Oh, it is you. Sorry, I was lost in thought and I didn't hear your voice." Rusty chuckled.

"How is it Rusty? Going well?" Yang asked.

"Mag's doing fine, she just pushed herself too hard." Rusty sighed holding onto her hand.

"No I meant how are you," Yang clarified.

"I'm ok, it just all happened so fast," Rusty said looking a the sleeping Mag.

"She's strong, you should go stretch your legs,I'll stay here in case she wakes up." Yang took a chair setting it onto the opposite side of the bed as Rusty.

"Oh, okay, I think I'll go find Elm and Ruby to see what they are up to," Rusty said leaving the room to find the two of them.

"You can open your eyes he's gone," Aroya said walking through the door.

Yang looked confused until Mag opened her eyes and sat up.

"I didn't want to have any awkward conversations while Elm was here," Mag confessed looking at her hands.

"Well, he's been known to give a well spread out variety of those when he feels like it." Aroya nodded in agreement.

"So… what do you want to talk about? Wait! no, don't tell me, is it boys?… Do you like someone?" Yang let out a gasp and "Did you kiss Rusty?" Yang fired off so many questions so fast that Mags head began to spin.

"Well according to drunk Elm, I-I apparently said I l-loved him… oh god I think I'm falling for Rusty." Mag said holding her head in her hands.

"Oh, my, god, are you serious?" Yang quietly asked wide eyed.

"I-I don't know, my heads in a complete mess right now, I don't know what to think, or do." Mag replied quietly.

"Well first you need to get a hold of yourself and think, _do I actually like this person,_ " Aroya explained with a serious tone.

"I don't know what's causing this feeling, but I also don't know why I'd deny the feeling either." Mag sighed placing her hands on her head.

"Then go out, see if you like them, maybe fuck a little," Aroya suggested.

"That last one isn't happening anytime soon." Mag glared.

"Damn, I thought I could get some blackmail material." Yang sighed.

"What!" Mag scrambled to her feet.

"Oh shit, was that out loud?" Yang asked.

"Yes." Aroya and Mag said at the same time.

"What ya talking about?" Elm and Ruby both said as they walked through the door. Elm had on his regular gear with the right arm sleeve tied up. I his other hand he had a mug of what smelled like coffee and was humming caffeine to himself. Ruby had returned to her normal self and was perky as ever.

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" Yang suddenly shouted as soon as they were within earshot.

"Hush I said I would talk about it later… now that it's later, I want to hear about the Doe's love life," Elm said plopping down on his bed.

"Excuse me?" Mag questioned.

"Oh you know how you're a girl and you're a deer faunus, and you love Rusty," Elm counted off on his fingers.

"Oh did you tell Elm you're a faunus?" Ruby asked.

"No." Mag said looking.

"Adam, uh, told me while I was, uh, discussing things with him," Elm smiled.

"How did you really find out?" Aroya asked glaring at Elm.

"I punched the ever living fuck out of him until he told me." Elm smiled.

"We've been dating for years, I know when you're lying," Aroya continued to stare daggers at Elm.

"Ok ok, I may or may not have caught a peek while the medics were getting you out of your old clothes, but i assure you I was too drunk on pain meds at that point to even understand what I was seeing," Elm confessed.

"WHAT!" Mag exclaimed, while her face when beet red.

Elm put one hand above his groin and thought he put one in front of his face, instead getting Aroya's fist to the face.

"I feel violated! And for once, it's not from Rusty's words." Mag glared

"It was an accident I swear." Elm said rubbing his face.

They sat in silence until a voice called Elm over the ship's intercom .

"Oh that's probably my dad,there's a person on the ship that's going to size me up for my prosthetic arm. I can't actually get it on the ship though, so I've got to wait until we reach one of the kingdoms." Elm said jumping up and walking out the door. As he left he looked at Yang and said, "You wanted to talk about something well, now is later so come on."

"Yes, see ya later guys I'll catch up." Yang practically skipped to the door, excited to talk about her favorite singer.

"Well, it's getting late, we should probably go rest up." Aroya sighed.

"Yeah, okay, I'm going to stay here for the night." Mag said.

"Alright, well, Elm will probably be back later tonight so you'll have company at some point or another. " Aroya said giving a smile.

"Yeah, and I'll get my team to come visit you tomorrow!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." Mag smiled.

"Yeah, see you." Aroya said giving a wave. Her and Ruby both walked out of the room and left Mag to her thoughts.

" _Speaking of which, I haven't seen anyone from my team except for Rusty. I wonder where they are, or if they're okay. By the sounds of it, team RWBY is fine. No sense worrying about it I guess. I think that I should get some shut eye and sleep on this whole Rusty topic."_ Mag let out a sigh and fell back onto her soft pillow.

"Hello Mag, I didn't know you were on the ship." A familiar voice said from the other side of the curtain. Mag propped her head up to check who it was.

"Sorry, it's late, who is it?" Mag asked, still unsure of who the voice belonged to. It was definitely female, but she just couldn't place it. She knew that the voice was familiar and that she should know it, but couldn't wrap her head around who it was.

"Oh come on Mag, it's me, your best friend."

Suddenly, it snapped into her mind.

"Ryder? Is that you?" Mag asked.

"Yeah, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Ryder asked.

"Wait, question, why are you here?" Mag asked sitting up in her bed. Ryder nodded and sat down on her bed.

"Atlas was attacked as well as Mistral." Ryder sighed.

"Wait, what?" Mag asked in slight shock.

"Don't worry, the Grimm couldn't break their defences, but, they sent two ships to Vale to ensure that everyone there was alright." Ryder smiled.

"Okay, and this is one of the ships?" Mag asked.

"And the other was stationed at Vale, they sent the ship after a huntsman who was on good terms with General Ironwood told them that Mistral was being attacked." Ryder said calmly.

"And they wanted help doing this?" Mag asked subtly.

"You're pretty good at guessing, how did you know that?" Ryder chuckled.

"I just piece things together." Mag smiled.

"Once I heard that your team had gone to Mistral, I asked Josh if we could volunteer for this. Plus, he owed me one, so he wasn't in a position to really turn me down." Ryder said.

"Hey Ryder, could you give us a hand here?" Came the voice of Tanya from down the hall.

"I guess they need me to help out with something."Ryder sighed.

"Don't worry about me, I'll see you tomorrow." Mag waved.

"Get some rest, okay, we'll talk more tomorrow." Ryder said waving back to her and she ran out of the room.

"I'm lucky that I have such great friends in my life." Mag said to herself, lying back down again.

" _Despite everything that's happened, life is actually pretty good right now."_ Mag smiled, and closed her eyes. She was so tired that within a couple minutes, she was asleep

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _Yes, I got here first, now all I have to do is-_

 _RedMoose:_ I FUCKING KNEW IT, MOTHER FUCKING SUNSET BITCHES! *writes sunset all over the air with light pens*

 _Me: *Manages to untie ropes and begins to tiptoe toward the door*_

 _RedMoose:_ Nu-uh, we're not done yet. *grabs Spartan25798 by the scruff of his shirt and hauls him back to the chair* Damn your lighter than I expected.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Mors est autor, eum interficerent notae, ubi et sternent eum, et custodiet eum digitos super sanguinem de area!**

 _RedMoose:_ *Gives thumbs up and hands knife.*

 _Me: I have a question for you two._

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Et effundam sanguinem bibent a gloria animum mea!**

 _RedMoose:_ Yes?

 _Me: Do you ever wonder why-_

 _RedMoose:_ I stopped wondering about a thousand years ago and started rolling with it.

 _rwbyfan5:_ **Submit sive morimur te automata carnes plurimas!**

 _RedMoose:_ Yeah you should end these before they get out of hand and crash agai-

 _* has crashed because we're all fucking idio-*_

 _*crash report has crashed, please go to to download your minimum reqirement of 489.37TB of ram.*_

 _*Press one to send a crash report, press two for restart, press three for death, press four for cookies, press five for sunset, press six for a crash diagnostic, press seven for 2% milk, press eight for et effundam sanguinem bibent a gloria animum mea, press nine for google transgofuckyourself◭◦ᶇᵰᵻᶂᵳᵾᶑᶋᵲᵼᶆᵲᵱᵺᶈḀᶔḋḠḫḪḈḢḷ⬒⬢, press zero for epic double bass solos.*_

 _*End Program*_


	31. Final Entry

_**A.N.:**_ _Hell yes, I got here before anyone else, even if this was late. I just need to get the hell out of here._

 _RedMoose:_ Just where do you think you are going?

 _Me: I am, uh, you know, just uh, I, uh, should go, I'll catch up later, okay? Okay._

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Slams door closed and locks it, revealing many ritualistic symbols and quasi-latin phrases inscribed into the wood with blood***

 _RedMoose:_ Mag can wait, I think she will be pretty busy in this chapter.

 _Me: First of all, what the hell did you do to the room? Second, why do you immediately think I'm going to see Mag?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Begins to scribble symbols onto Spartan25798's back with a sharpie while muttering something under his breath***

 _RedMoose:_ Well, first, there is that homemade body pillow, you're constantly away and no one knows where Mag is either, ummm I say so, and I'm bored… #sunset

 _Me: Okay! You can both stop right now! Especially you, rwbyfan5, that marker is really cold!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Switches the sharpie for a knife***

 _Me: Okay, okay, this is taking a sharp turn of events, I get the point already!_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Chanting intensifies***

 _RedMoose:_ HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA…..RUN!

 **Puck: Alright, that's enough, guys. All of you just stop. Don't make me take drastic measures.**

 _RedMoose: *_ Cuts Puck shaped hole in wall with laser pens and kicks him through it and immediately covers it with concrete.* There, no drastic measures were taken.

 **Puck: *Through the wall* Alright, that's it!**

 _Me: I had nothing to do with this! Please spare the writer!_

 ***A tear in the already thin fabric of reality opens and spits out some random guy***

 **?:** _ **Umm, Hi?**_

 _*Upon further inspection, he looks oddly similar to rwbyfan5, yet...not. His black hoodie and hair are the same, but his angular features, cat ears, and bright green eyes make him look more like a relative of his, rather than the author himself._

 _RedMoose:_ *Cuts head off with laser pens* Blood for Nox *Throws blood into the air*

 _*Puck blocks your attack, and Nox does not accept your offering._

 _RedMoose:_ Meh was worth a try.

 **Puck: Attack my bro again and I'll gut you!**

 _rwbyfan5:_ **JETT!**

 _ **Jett: What? Who…? *Pause* You know what? Whatever. I've dealt with weirder. What's up?**_

 _Me: Can I go home now?_

Ruby: You're at home silly.

 _Me: No Ruby, home is a place where you can actually go to feel safe, not a place where you feel like you're about to get sacrificed to a demon like god at any given moment during anytime_

 _RedMoose:_ Well you see about that as soon as you leave this place any injuries you sustained while here under the protection of aura will affect you. For example if you were stabbed you will have stab wounds. _._

 _ **Nox: I AM NOT A DEMON, YOU HAM FISTED MORTAL!**_

 _Me: Yeah, sorry about that, stir of the moment and all. C-can I just write this one last chapter?_

 _RedMoose:_ Yeah go ahead.

* * *

 **Final Entry**

* * *

"Okay, is this thing on? Haven't really used the recording feature on this thing." Ruby asked looking into the camera on her scroll. The room she was in was dark and appeared to have some sort of metal walls around her as she looked to be in a corner.

"So, uh, the people here asked us to document what's going on in video logs, and this is my first one, so let's see how it turns out." Ruby thought for a moment before continuing.

"Let's see, it's been about a week since the tragedy at the Amity Colosseum happened in Vale. I think." She said losing herself in thought again.

"Uh, regardless, it's kind of late at night right now, so I'm trying to keep my voice down." She said letting out a slight giggle.

"Our team was lucky enough to actually be given beds on this ship, being the people that we were, we offered it up to others, but, the people who run the ship say that the only ones who were given beds were people who fought in Mistral." Ruby looked down in distraught and gave a sigh.

"There are so many families outside who have lost people in this incident, and I think that this is the hardest part of battle." Ruby closed her eyes and a trickle of a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Uh, what's been going on with everyone, because I'm not exactly sure what i should be doing in these aside from talking, so, I'm talking." Ruby sighed.

"Yang, my sister is doing pretty well, after the fight in Mistral, we all went into the infirmary for a check up, but, lucky us, we all got away scott free. Despite everything, she's still her happy and go lucky self." Ruby smiled.

"Weiss is doing better too, or at least I think she is. She's kind of hard to read most of the time. She's still herself though, always wanting to become stronger. In fact, she told me that as soon as she wakes up tomorrow, she's going to find whatever passes for a training room and practice her form. Whatever that means." Ruby said looking down.

"I think that out of all of our team, Blake has changed the most. From her stories, she said she would always run away from everything. But now, she actually talks to people, she doesn't run, she's almost fearless. Because of that, I'm kind of happy she and I are partners." She looked up at the camera again swiftly.

"N-not that the others haven't changed or anything, we've all grown in our own ways." Ruby stuttered.

"As for the others, like Steel and his team, I think they're doing okay. Mag pushed herself to hard during the fight and knocked herself out accidentally, it was actually nice to see Rusty care so much about her. He literally carried her back to the ship by giving her a piggy back ride." Ruby smiled, chuckling at the memory.

"Teal is the same as he was before, kind hearted, caring, always looking out for others." Ruby sighed.

"Steel is kind of, distant with his team right now, not that I can really blame him, it's not going to be easy building up their trust with him again." Ruby just sat in silence for a moment before giving out a sigh.

"I don't want to push this onto the others , but, I've been having these dreams. In these dream, I experience life like images of scenarios, in these scenarios, I have to watch my friends, family, and anyone who I care about die." Ruby said shedding a tear.

"I don't want anyone to worry about me, they've already got so many things on their minds." Ruby sighed.

"It's about three forty five if I'm reading the time on that clock correctly, despite that, after the dream, I don't think that I'll be getting anymore sleep tonight." She took a quick look around the room to see that her teammates were all still asleep. At least, that was her hope.

"I, I don't know what to do, I want help with these nightmares, but I don't want to burden anyone with them. I feel so, helpless, and I don't know why." Ruby sighed.

"Okay, I think that's good enough for the first log. Good, so, uh, end log, I guess." Ruby said stopping the recording.

" yeah, definitely not going to get any more sleep tonight, that dream felt way more real than the other ones, and who was that other woman?" Ruby sighed as she hit her pillow.

" _I might as well take a walk and learn my way around the ship a little."_ She thought as she hopped off her bunk, and landed with a silence as a following noise.

" _Everyone's probably asleep right now, so I should probably stay quiet."_ Ruby thought to herself. She was still in her pajamas but left her Scythe in the room. The door was made of a type of steel so it wasn't easy to open or close quietly.

She managed to sneak out quietly and without waking anyone up. She was walking through a hallway with doors in close proximity to each other. They were in the barracks and there was little light in the hall. She knew that people were sleeping all around her except for a few. There were people who were crying in some rooms. They must've lost somebody close the to them in the fight to defend Mistral. Ruby's head drooped as she walked by and remained quiet.

Ruby made it to the end of the hall where the cafeteria was. It was a little bigger that the one at Beacon, and she knew that this was one of two, at least, on the ship. She took a quick look around the room and spotted a figure sitting at the table on the other side of the room. She walked up to the man to see that it was Elm sitting there, sipping on a mug of what looked like coffee.

"Hey mister Elm." Ruby said quietly taking a seat beside him.

"Oh, hey kiddo, how are you doing?" Elm asked turning to face her. His gaze seemed very distant compared to usual.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay." Ruby nodded.

"That's good, I'm just sitting here. I just had my arm measured for a prosthetic. Apparently, you made an extremely good cut and they will just have to put the thing on and calibrate it." Elm chuckled making Ruby feel uneasy. She was still worried about Elm after what happened in Mistral.

"That's good, but you know that it's three in the morning, right?" Ruby asked leaning in.

"It's that time already? Huh, time seems to fly I guess." Elm smiled before sharpening his gaze on hers.

"Speaking of time, what are you doing up so late?" Elm asked causing Ruby to sit back in her chair.

"Oh, I just had a dream. It wasn't a good one." Ruby sighed.

"Well, it will help you sleep, so tell me what it's about." Elm said leaning in.

"A-are you sure?" Ruby asked.

"Look pipsqueak, I've been through the whole scenario at one point. Trust me, it will help to talk about it." Elm said leaning back and crossing one leg over the other.

"Okay. Well, it started in an older warehouse. It was me, my team, and team STRM investigating something, but the contents of what are really fuzzy."

* * *

" _Hey, are you guys coming?" Yang asked opening up the large sliding door._

" _Yang, try to be more careful, you don't know what could be in there." Weiss scolded, Myrtenaster already in hand._

" _Mag, Blake, could you scout the area?" Steel asked stepping up from behind the group._

" _Yeah, we can do that, give us two minutes, if you hear anything, come help us out." Mag said tugging on Blake's arm._

" _Be careful, I've done a read of the area, and there doesn't look like there are any life forms, but stay alert. " Teal said pulling out Piana Morska from his belt's holster._

* * *

"We waited outside for a couple minutes, then, Mag and Blake appeared outside." Ruby sighed.

"Okay, and what was inside the warehouse? Anything?" Elm asked as he was practically hooked on every word that Ruby was saying.

"Well, they said that there was this red and black orb in the center of the room, but they didn't know what it was, so they never got close to it." Ruby said.

"Okay, and did you go check it out?" Elm asked.

"Yeah, what a mistake that turned out to be."

* * *

" _When you said orb, I didn't think you meant portal like orb." Rusty said. They were all gathered around the portal looking thing in the middle of the room. It was dark, and was the size of a person._

" _So, who wants to check it out first?" Yang asked._

" _I could. I'll take a quick peek and pop right back." Mag said bravely._

" _I'll go with you, and keep you company." Rusty added causing Mag to roll her eyes._

" _Fine, poke your hand in and make sure it's safe." Mag chuckled. Rusty gave a shrug and walked up to the portal, he stuck his hand through and pulled it back in one piece._

" _Okay, looks safe to me. Rusty said. Mag gave a sigh and walked up to the portal. She grabbed onto his hand causing her to blush slightly._

" _Make sure that I am still a little bit on this side, okay." Mag sighed_

 _"Okay, let's do this ." Mag sighed putting her arm through. She took another step forward so half of her body was inside the portal. Then another step, now her entire body was inside except for her arm which was still tightly wrapped around Rusty's arm. Her head poked back through and she smiled._

 _"Okay, looks good, if you guys want to, you can come through now." Mag said letting go of Rusty. She then backed up and disappeared into the portal._

 _"On my way." Rusty said jumping into the portal._

 _The others went in one by one, and they all met up on the other side of the portal. When they got a look around, the atmosphere felt, and looked very different. Instead of a clear blue sky, green grass and trees, they were greeted with a sight of burnt rock and rubble and a black and red sky._

 _"Where the hell are we?" Steel asked readying Axe Gevar's rifle form._

 _"I don't know, and I don't like it." Yang replied scanning the area._

 _"Teal, make sure that there are no Grimm anywhere." Ruby said planting Crescent Rose's scythe blade in the ground._

 _"I did as soon as we got here," Teal replied._

 _"And?" Rusty asked waiting for an update on the situation._

 _"There's only one, but I can't figure out where it is." Teal said. Suddenly, the portal that brought them there collapsed in on itself and made a loud bang. They all turned to see a stone staircase._

 _"Well, I must say, I never did expect you to arrive so soon." A voice said from the top of the stairs, but there was no actual person there._

 _"who, what are you?' Rusty asked._

 _"Humanity has been trying to figure that out for many years now." The voice said from behind them causing all of them to turn._

 _"Of course, you don't actually stand a chance against me. If these friends of yours didn't, how could you?' The voice said from the stairs again. When they all turned to a gruesome sight. Lying on the ground leading up the stairs were bodies of students and hunters everywhere. They could see team JNPR, CFVY, ABEX, JSTR, CRDL, EMBR and so many others. They could also pick out the bodies of Goodwitch, Ironwood, Oriana, Aroya, Adam, Ookbleck, and Port._

 _"W-what h-appened he-here?" Teal asked in fear. All eight of them were backing up now._

 _"They opposed me, just like you do, so I killed them." The voice said from behind them again._

 _"What the actual fu-" Rusty started but was cut off by having a large arrow fly at his neck, and managing to pierce his aura with the one shot. Mag let out a cry as Rusty's lifeless body fell to the ground._

 _Suddenly, a spear flew out from the sky and launched Steel into the ground, skewering him._

 _Then, a large axe the size of a person swung from the air, practically out of nowhere and everyone but Mag dodged out of the way. The axe cut clean through her and cut her in half._

 _A knife suddenly flew at Blake's neck, but Teal saw it and jumped in the way. Unfortunately, the blade cut all the way through him and hit both Blake and Teal's hearts._

 _Weiss, Ruby, and Yang all took one look at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to run. However, before they could, a hook shot into Weiss's chest and went straight through her, killing her instantly._

 _Both sisters ran for it, but Yang was tripped, and a sharp string lay in her path at neck height, cutting her head off as she fell._

 _Ruby began to cry as she ran, but was stopped by a cloaked figure. She ran straight into it and bounced backwards onto her back._

 _"This is the future, one with the simple soul. Ozpin put so much faith in you, but, I guess faith doesn't win you a war." The figure said before taking a scythe from her cloak and slashed at her neck._

* * *

"After that, I woke up, and then , here I am." Ruby said shaking and crying at the same time.

"Okay, that was a lot worse than I expected from a fifteen year old, plus, given your combat experience, it really doesn't add up." Elm said in wonder.

"What do y-you mean by t-that?" Ruby stuttered.

"Look, kid, it doesn't really make sense for you to be having such dark nightmares. Hey, uh, I'll think of something, but you know, when I'm not on these damn pain killers, they're kind of fucking around with my head. But once I'm off of these things, I'll help you out, alright." Elm said with a thoughtful sigh.

"T-thanks, but I don't know what to do." Ruby said before Elm hushed her with a finger.

"Okay, first, go to your team and tell them about this. After that, you might want to just maybe, possibly, definitely, go see somebody in the infirmary about that." Elm said.

"Okay, once they start getting up, I'll tell them about it." Ruby sighed.

"Oh! We should all have a sparring match once we get to Atlas!" Elm said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, good idea, I'll go back and wait for the others to get up." Ruby said walking toward the sleeping quarters again

"Well, that was fast, good rest of your night." Elm said moving his stumpy arm in a waving motion.

"Yeah, you too." Ruby sighed.

"Oh, trust me, I always do." Elm said sitting back on the bench.

" _Okay Ruby, you're fine, right? I mean, it's not like they'll judge me or anything. These dreams are out of my hands, and I need some help. That's all, I won't be a bother to anyone."_ Ruby thought as she reached the end of the cafeteria, and walked into the hall.

Ruby arrived back to, what she referred to as a dorm, where the other three members of team RWBY were sleeping peacefully.

"R-Ruby?" Blake asked groggily from her bed that was in between both Weiss and Yang. It felt really weird to them as they didn't have bunks for whatever reason.

"Huh?" Ruby replied in a slight panic, but quickly got herself under control.

"A-are you alright? It's really late at night, or really early, take your pick." Blake said giving out a yawn as she sat up.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." Ruby said tip toeing backwards.

"D-don't worry about me, I'm fine, but you're almost never up this early." Blake said quietly.

"Ruby ssstop making us be loumnd I need so to meal kemu as ey do rum can yry, Yang slurred in her sleep.

"It's fine, she does that a lot nowadays." Blake chuckled softly.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Ruby asked.

"I wake up a lot in the middle of the night, I always have." Blake replied calmly

"Why?" Ruby asked sitting down on the edge of Blake's bed.

"I don't really know myself, it's just a thing that happens from time to time." Blake sighed. She suddenly sharpened her gaze on Ruby sending a chill up her back.

"Uh, Blake?" Ruby said moving away from her slightly.

"You keep dodging my question, I'd like it if you answered." Blake said calmly.

"I, uh, don't know how to answer that." Ruby chuckled, trying to dodge the question again.

"The last time I saw you up this late was when you has that bad dream." Blake sighed. "You've been having them again, haven't you?" She asked sighing again.

Ruby said nothing, but gave a simple nod.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Blake asked.

"N-no, wait yes," Ruby said remembering Elms advice. "J-just, just not right now." She sighed.

"Ruby, you can't keep bottlenecking your problems and try to take them on by yourself." Blake said in a sad sounding tone.

"I'm just waiting for the others to wake up, that way, I can get everyone's help that way." Ruby smiled.

"Okay, fair enough." Blake said lying back on her pillow.

"Thanks," Ruby said giving a sigh of relief.

"Just do me, and yourself a favour, get some rest, okay." Blake said as she closed her eyes. Ruby stood up and walked over to her bed. She knelt down on it and glanced over at Blake

"Okay, I'll do my best." Ruby sighed, faceplanting into her pillow softly.

* * *

"Well, that's, ugh, unexpected." Yang said with a sigh. There was a lot of commotion outside their room from people moving up and down the halls.

"You can say that again." Weiss said contemplating what her leader had just told her.

"So, she's never had a dream as bad as this one before, right Yang?" Blake asked.

"No, and I'm pretty sure the last time she had a nightmare was back when she was starting in Signal." Yang said.

"Well, she did wake up one or two nights when we first started, but that was really it." Blake noted.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Yang asked causing Ruby to shrink up a bit.

"B-because I didn't want to bother you guys with it." Ruby said shyly.

"Ruby, why do you do this to yourself?" Yang asked softly.

"W-well, I just became the leader of our team at the time, and I didn't want you guys to treat me like a kid, or, something along those lines." Ruby sighed.

"But that's why we're teammates Ruby, to help each other out, remember?" Weiss said with a smile.

"You may want to take on the entire world by yourself, but somewhere along the road, you're going to have to ask for help a few times." Blake said patiently.

The group's conversation was suddenly interrupted by the ship's intercom system.

"Attention everyone, as many of you may already know, we are heading to the kingdom of Atlas." This was met by a deep sigh from Weiss.

"As such, we hope to land there within the hour. Please prepare your items that you have with you and prepare to leave the ship." The intercom cut out and the team looked at each other briefly before getting up to pack up. None of them had very much, but they had some miscellaneous items with them.

"Okay, so, what did you guys all bring with you?" Weiss asked.

"Nothing aside from the scroll that basically has no functions and multiple extra dust rounds." Yang replied

"I'm the same actually," Blake added.

"I thought I saw you with a book earlier thou-" Ruby began before Blake silenced her.

"Nope! I have no idea what you're talking about." She quickly denied.

"Come on, let's go find the others." Weiss said, making sure that Myrtenaster was secured by her hip.

"Okay, let's go see if Mag is good to go." Blake suggested.

"Good idea, i-if team STRM is there, that's the best chance we'll have at finding them on this huge ship." Ruby said shyly.

"Hey, come on, reignite that sis, it's fine, I forgive you." Yang smiled.

"O-okay." Ruby said allowing a smile to creep onto her face.

The team walked out the door into the very busy hallway. They pushed their way through the long hallway the opposite way of the cafeteria and eventually arrived in the center of the multi layered ship. They made their way from the second floor up to the fourth and pushed through the crowds again to make it to the medical wing.

Blake rounded the corner to her room before anyone else did. She was surprised to see Mag changing and her brown tail poking out from her sweatpants, that was usually covered by her sweater.

"Oh, sorry," Blake said turning away. She walked up to her teammates who were about to see Mag.

"Hold it, she's changing right now." Blake said stopping all three of them in their tracks.

"Oh, okay, we'll give her a minute." Ruby said with her usual cheery smile

"Someone could have warned ME about that!" Blake said in slight anger and embarrassment.

"Sorry, I didn't really expect company this early." Mag said walking out in her usual light purple sweater and dark sweats.

"Hey bow peep what's new? up to your old ways is see," Elm said walking out of the room after Mag.

"Wasn't Mag changing in that room?" Weiss asked pointing to the door way.

"Yeah but there is a privacy curtain… I only wish she had thought to either pull it herself or like tell me she was changing… but don't worry I didn't see much. " Elm said embarrassed, scratching the back of his head while staring at the ground.

"IHadNoIdeaYouWereInThere!" Mag said turning bright red.

"WE SHARE THE SAME FUCKING ROOM!" Elm shouted throwing his arm up in the air.

"Elm! stop scaring the doe girl," Aroya said from inside the room. Both Mag and Blake froze glaring at Elm, while everyone else began to become extremely confused by Aroya's choice of words. They heard footsteps behind them and looked to see Steel, Teal, and Rusty walking down the hall

"Hey guys! What's going… on?" Rusty asked in a confused tone.

"I, uh, umm." Mag said backing away.

"Mag, are you sure you're okay? You look really pale right now." Steel said with a small smile growing on his face.

"She might pass out, quick Rusty catch her in your arms, be the prince charming this may be your only chance," Elm shouted making overdramatic gestures which were only half as terrible given that he only had one arm.

"I'm, I'm." Mag shook her head violently back and forth and disappeared from everyone's view by teleporting away.

"Teal where did she go? Rusty needs to get a girlfriend, he's been becoming too friendly with his right hand." Elm shouted pointing at Teal then making turning full circle and pointing at Rusty.

"No, let her be." Blake sighed.

"Would somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on!?" Rusty shouted.

"I'm in the same boat as you Rusty." Teal chuckled.

"Does anyone know where she is?" Blake asked.

"Okay lets all split up and look through the ship, we'll go in pairs, Rusty you come with me I have something I need to tell you," Elm said sending Teal a look of work with me here. Teal who understood what was happening went along with it,

"Okay, Steel, you come with me, we will go search the bottom floors," Teal said walking towards the elevator,

"Wait can't you just use your semblance?" Ruby asked.

"Nah it's too crowded I can't see a thing," Teal explained.

Once everyone had left Elm grabbed Rusty by the waist and hauling him over his shoulder Elm walked down the hall and entered one of the doors. Throwing Rusty down on the bed he said,

"Found her."

Aroya and Mag were all ready in the room sitting across from each other. Mag was sitting cross legged playing with her hands nervously while Aroya braided a ridiculously intricate braid down the left side of Mag's head. .

"Okay, you two have fun. Aroya, could you come with me for a few minutes." Elm said.

"No arguments here, but you should seriously be resting, you're still missing an arm." She said following Elm out of the room, but just around the corner.

"It's fine I got a good warm up on the way here," Elm said on the way out. Once they were outside Elm turned to Aroya and said, "I want these two to be happy before all of this turns to a fucking shit show,"

"What do you mean?" Aroya asked.

"That girl Ruby, she's been having nightmares, not the well I shouldn't have seen that scary movie nightmares, the serious PTSD style ones that old soldiers get. She's fifteen, with almost no real combat experience, and is having vivid dreams of all her friends, and everyone she knows being killed in some pretty brutal ways." Elm said his face getting serious and low, "I told her to talk about it with her team, but I don't know what to do about it, I think i'm going to tell one of my Psychologist friend in atlas Dr. Grey to have a chat with her," Elm said concern creeping into his voice

"God thats got to be tough, you were wondering if I could talk with her before that?" Aroya asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Elm said pausing for a bit, "I love you, don't go doing anything stupid" He said after a bit

"I love you too, and the same goes for you twice over," Aroya said tears forming in her eyes. Elm leaned in and gave Aroya a kiss and went back into the room.

"Would you two give us some privacy please! For the love of god!" Mag shouted.

"Sorry." Aroya responded.

"Okay, would you like to tell me what's going on?" Rusty asked.

"We are trying to get you two to date, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD RUSTY KISS HER ALREADY, SHE WANTS IT!" Elm shouted throwing his hand up.

Mag took a long and deep breath in order to take her stress away from the situation. All of team RWBY knew, Teal and Steel both knew. Now Elm and Aroya knew. She had to tell Rusty about her being a faunus.

"L-look, I-I'm going to be completely honest with you." She said narrowing her gaze.

"Uh, okay." Rusty replied in a confused tone.

"I guess the other's have found out already, but, I need to tell you this." Mag's heart was racing. The last time she told anyone about her deer tail, she was made fun of for the rest of her time in the early academies. She knew she could trust Rusty, somewhat, but it didn't calm her nerves at all.

"I-I-I'm a-a faunus." Mag said turning away from him.

"W-wait, really?" Rusty asked in slight shock.

"Y-yeah," Mag said lifting up the back end of her sweater to reveal her light brown and white tail.

"I, had, no idea." Rusty said with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about this earlier." Mag said quietly, while pulling her sweater back down

"Hey,"Rusty said pulling her arm and causing her eyes to meet his.

"W-what?" Mag asked in slight fear.

"I think that it looks cute on you." Rusty smiled.

"Really?" Mag chuckled.

"Yeah." Rusty smiled.

"That's, uh, a relief I guess." Mag said.

"Kiss already, for fucks sake!" Elm shouted.

"Thanks for breaking the mood, dipshit," Rusty glared at Elm

"Your welcome," Elm said in a sing song voice.

"Let's let them have their own time," Aroya said dragging Elm backwards by the collar of his shirt.

"Thank you Aroya," Rusty said under his breath.

"Attention everyone, We will be landing very shortly, please find your family members and friends and prepare to exit the ship." The announcer said through the speaker.

"You still holding on?" Mag asked pulling her new braid over her shoulder.

"Yeah." Rusty said getting a better grip on her arm. They suddenly appeared with the rest of their teammates.

"Whoa! Okay, you're here, totally didn't scare the crap out of me!" Yang said almost falling over from the surprise of the two of them appearing in front of her.

"S-sorry," Mag said shyly. The group was all back where they started, excluding Elm and Aroya. That was until the two of them came sprinting around the corner.

"Well then Aroya what did we learn?" Elm asked

"Don't give people nicknames that implicate them being a faunus," Aroya said hanging her head.

"Exactly, isn't that right bow peep?" Elm said smiling at Blake, who just returned with an angry glare.

The ship suddenly shook slightly, and the feeling of motion that they all experienced was gone.

"Looks like we're here."

"Students of other schools, and other hunters, will be staying in the school of Atlas's spare dormitories, while everyone else has been allowed to stay at any hotels in the kingdom for free." Came a female voice from the ship's speaker. They all glanced at each other and began to make their way down to the main exit on the bottom floor. The movement speed was almost slower that the one you'd see in a queue for a new ride at an amusement park.

"Ughh I'm bored already. Mag can't you teleport us off the ship or something," Elm complained after a full five minutes of waiting.

"With this many people trying to get to the same location? I'd crush someone if I tried it even once." Mag replied with a sigh

"What about right to the ground?" Elm asked.

"Even so, I've never tried teleporting that many people all at once." Mag replied with a sigh

"How high are we above ground?" Elm asked turning to Aroya.

"Mmm about 50 meters from the outer hull of the ship to the ground accounting for rooms floors reinforcements I'd say about 100 off the ground," Aroya said doing several mental calculations in her head.

"I can survive that, Get me outside the damn ship I want fresh air," Elm shouted.

"We're like, twenty steps away." Yang pointed out.

"Ugh fine, but when we get there you all have to promise to have a sparring match once I get my new arm," Elm said pointing at teams RWBY and STRM.

"Oh. It. Is. On!" Yang said enthusiastically. The ten of them made it outside the ship after another three minutes.

"Whoa, it's a lot colder here than I thought it would be" Ruby said rubbing her arms together to form some heat.

"Well, we're closer to the pole, and less sun reaches here. It's only logical for it to be cold here." Weiss said trying to sound smart.

"You know it's almost like we wouldn't know anything if we didn't have you here.," Aroya said the sarcasm dripping from her voice

"But this cold? It's freezing here!" Yang squealed.

"Oh! I remember now! There's this new thing on the market now that allows your legs to be warmer. What was the name of it again? Oh, I remember now, they're called pants!" Elm suddenly shouted. "You three should look into buying some."

"Really Elm? Huh, and I thought you liked my skirt." Ruby said doing a little twirl.

"Okay, let's just get to the dorms. Even though we woke up a little while ago, I'm tired." Mag sighed

"Alright, see you guys later."

* * *

 **A Far off place on Remnant**

* * *

"It appears that she is still alive."

" _Does that trouble you? She's more powerful than you may think._ "

"She will die, even if you refuse to."

" _You underestimate them._ "

"Do I? How many died in the past week?"

" _Too many to count, however, all of my main pieces are still fine._ "

"Enough of the chess analogies!"

" _I'd just like to see how this progresses. You did use your trump card after all._ "

"Fine, leave, but you and all of the people you care about, one day, will regret meeting me. And just so you know, watching you burn, will be the best part of this entire war, Ozpin."

* * *

 _ **A.N.:**_ _*Whispers* I'm just gonna let this one play out a bit… You readers might want to stick around until the end for this one._

 _RedMoose: MOTHER FUCKING SUNSET._

 _Me: Fairly sure that nobody except us actually understands that RedMoose_

 _ **Jett: This place is pretty chill, when you guys stop trying to kill each other.**_

RedMoose: Yeah rwbyfan5 kinda got off track a few chapters ago and it hasn't been the same since, the only good thing about that was I got my pen… where did it go…. WHAT THE FUCK, WHERE DID IT GO...MOTHER FUCKER.

 _ **Jett: Yeah. Weird thing about rwbyfan5 is that he kinda looks like a younger version of my dad. It's kinda creepy, actually.**_

 _RedMoose:_ Yeah, 'bout that, are you two related or something?

 _ **Jett: Not that I know of, unless I've got some kind of secret twin brother or something.**_

 _RedMoose:_ Probably like the same thing with another person and myself. HEY ELM GET YOUR LAZY ASS IN HERE!

 _Elm:_ What do you want?

 _RedMoose:_ See he looks like an older me. He's me from an alternate universe by the way.

 _ **Jett: Maybe that's it. I dunno, man, that dude's pretty whacked out. I saw him drawing some seriously disturbing things underneath someone's bed**_ _ **in blood**_ _**just a few minutes ago.**_

 _Rusty: Hey! Is this where the party is?!_

 _RedMoose: *Shoves Rusty out the door*_ What was your dad's name, Jett?

 _ **Jett: Darce Forge.**_

 _RedMoose:_ Yeah, you see, the thing is that your dad is the alternate version of rwbyfan5 and your dad, Darce was supposed to be sucked in here, but you got sucked in instead.

Ruby: Hey, didn't Darce and his team kick team CRDL's butt in like a minute during the tournament?

 _RedMoose:_ Ruby, I have no reason nor the patience to explain the multiverse theory to you so let's just say it was him, and not him at the same time, ok? Ok.

 _ **Jett: Wait, wasn't team CRDL the team Mr. Winchester was on when he was in Beacon?**_

 _Yang:_ Oh boy, here we go.

 _Elm_ : I wanted to snap every bone in that boys body so bad from the moment I heard him open his mouth, so to answer your question yes… Hey want a high five?

Clancy: Don't listen to him if you know what's good for you kid.

 _*Magenta sits down beside Spartan25798 and they watch the spectacles in front of them unfold*_

 _ **Jett: Oh, come on, there's no way**_ _ **Cardin "The original non-blood related favorite uncle" Winchester**_ _**could be THAT bad.**_

 _Elm:_ I'll keep it simple for you, The first time I met "Mr. Winchester", as you call him, he was picking on a particularly adorable rabbit faunus girl named Velvet Scarlatina

 _ **Jett: Okay, now I KNOW you're just talking crap. There is no way on Remnant that**_ _ **Aunt Velvet**_ _**would ever put up with anyone's crap.**_

 _RedMoose:_ I will repeat what I told Ruby. I HAVE NEITHER THE TIME NOR THE PATIENCE TO EXPLAIN THE MULTIVERSE THEORY TO ANYONE IN THIS ROOM.

 _ **Jett: *Throws his hands into the air* You know what? Forget this. I'm out. *Falls into his shadow and vanishes***_

RedMoose: That happened and now I want to leave. MAG, TAKE ME HOME I'M HUNGRY AND FUCK THIS SHIT YOU WOULDN'T EVEN KISS RUSTY, WHY HE STILL LOVES YOU! *fumes in the corner*

 _Weiss:_ I think that he actually broke somehow.

 _Steel:_ Yeah, looks like it.

 _RedMoose: *Mutters about ice and melting of stuff, slowly assembling a gun from spare parts in the corner*_

 _Teal:_ Someone should probably take that stuff away from him given the situation.

 _Me: No, I think a little brain damage would actually be good for him._

 _RedMoose:_ *angryly searches the room for his pen*

 _Me: has everyone said what they want to say?_

 _rwbyfan5:_ ***Silence in a dead language***

 _Me: Okay, I guess that's it for this story. I think we're just about out of-_

 _*End of disc one. To continue, load disc two._

 _ ***loading credits**_

 _Okay, I think that this will be the only AN that will have some stuff you'd usually put into an author's note._

 _Okay, first of all, I'd like to thank some people. Kind of cieche, I know._

 _Alright, first, I'd like to thank these two in the AN's, RedMoose and rwbyfan5 for helping/hindering my work. Mostly help though, I'd have a really hard time staying on track if it weren't for RedMoose, and I'd die if I had to edit everything the way that rwbyfan5 does._

 _Secondly, I'd like to thank JacOneManBand, for allowing me to use his team (JSTR) in my story. You guys should check him out on YouTube, he does a bunch of RWBY related videos, like theories, breakdowns, and a bunch more._

 _I'd really like to thank Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, for obvious reasons. Without you, RWBY would never exist, and I probably would've never started writing or met these two nitwi- wonderful people._

 _I'd like to thank w for drawing up team STRM for me, it means a lot, no matter how long the time intervals are between each one of her awesome pictures._

 _There's also SUPERskrat1996 and Welcome to Night Vale (Go check these people out on YouTube) for providing the much needed background noise for my writing,as well as a multitude of RWBY music from Jeff and Casey._

 _And lastly, I'd like to thank you, the reader, who actually read my junky writing that I call a story. Every follow, favorite and feedback always gave me motivation to write._

 _I guess this is the end of Beacon of Hope… Kind of sad really. Don't worry, I'll continue this story ;)_

 _Stick around and keep a look out for it. Once I come up with a title for it, I'll post a chapter saying what it is and when it will hopefully come out..._

 _This is Me, Spartan25798 Signing off? Loging out? Ah, some shit like that anyway. Good (your time of day) to you._


	32. Next Up

**Next Up**

* * *

Ahem. Readers, friends, Weiss. Four score and seven minutes ago (not really) I had a dream. A dream that one day, someone would actually read my """""Story""""" Turns out, if you're reading this, you did! Beacon of Hope was my first fanfiction, but I refuse to let it be my last. And if you follow me, that means you probably know about the other Pokemon fic I'm working on. BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW… For, as you can see dear readers, the next story to continue Beacon of Hope has arrived. It's going to take place about a week and a half after the events of Mistral and the fall of Haven.

It should be out right now, if the me writing this is actually smart and remembers to post the first chapter of the story before this goes up. You should be able to find it on my profile, its name is officially going to be Glassed Remnant. Just an FYI though, it's only going to be the first chapter until I can actually get ahead enough to feel like I can write 5K every week or so. I've been watching RWBY volume 4, got some practice in with the other story, and I'm ready to make this story great again! I hope you guys enjoy it, and once again, the stories name will be.

Glassed Remnant.

P.S: This is just the first chapter, and until I get a solid footing back for my writing, the updates for this story might be a little slow...

Sincerely, _Me: Spartan25798_

And a thank you to rwbyfan5 and RedMoose for making this writing as fun as possible.


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